


Our Love is God

by WhenFandomStrikes



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Canon until 03x14, Case Fic, F/M, Mentions of Lucifer/Other, Mentions of Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 01:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13729905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenFandomStrikes/pseuds/WhenFandomStrikes
Summary: A high-profile case lands on Chloe's desk and the victim turns out to be the one woman who made the detective's high school career absolutely miserable. Chloe is forced to relive her teen years and she and Lucifer are forced into a dark and deceiving case that takes their already rocky relationship to the brink.**My tumblr: http://whenfandomstrikes.tumblr.com/ **





	1. Mythic Bitch

Ella came dashing by with a quick, "We've got a live one... well, dead one... but you know what I mean." 

Chloe groaned inwardly to herself. Her week hadn't been going so great. Trixie had flu over the weekend until finally able to return to school on Wednesday, Marcus had been acting all weird around her, she went on a terrible date two nights ago that ended with her throwing water in the prick's face before going home to sob into a bottle of cheap merlot,and Lucifer…

Chloe hadn't heard from Lucifer in six days which wasn't unheard of, but had still irked her a bit.

"C'mon, Decker, we gatta go!" Ella called out as she climbed up towards the elevators.

Chloe shook her head and tried to snap herself out of her thoughts. She really didn't have time for Lucifer's ridiculous antics right now. He had been doing this far more frequently as of late. He'd vanish for a few days before popping back up when it suited him. She knew he was up to something, but she honestly didn't have it in her anymore to chase him down.

"Chloe!" Ella's voice rang out again and Chloe groaned aloud as she realised she'd been sucked into thinking about Lucifer _again._ Launching herself up from her desk and grabbing her keys, Chloe took the stairs two at a time to the reach the forensic tech.

"Sorry. Lost in thought." Chloe nodded as she stepped on the elevator. "Let's go."

* * *

 

"Detective! Isn't it tragic?" Came Lucifer's joyous tenor as Chloe stepped beneath the crime scene tape. So much for keeping Lucifer out of her thoughts. At least he was here and not claiming to be kidnapped or off getting himself a new wife.

"Tragic?" She prompted without thinking.

"Victoria Kate. Utterly _dreadful_ loss, I'd say." Lucifer said, turning to walk towards where all the hustle and bustle of the CSI teams were and looking forlornly down at the body. "The society page will forever be lacking from now on."

Chloe hadn't heard anything past _Victoria Kate_.

"Wait, Victoria Kate Melbourne?" Chloe asked, stalking past Lucifer and into the room to take in the scene.

Lying face down on the floor was the body of a 36-year-old, caucasian, redhead, wearing a dressing gown that probably cost more than half Chloe's wardrobe. The victim's arms were splayed out to the side indicating that she'd belly-flopped flat onto her front.

"I don't believe it." Chloe whispered, mostly to herself.

"I know! It's bloody devastating." Lucifer said as he looked over Chloe's shoulder at the body on the floor. "The queen of the Los Angeles socialites taking her own life. Heartbreaking. She was such a glorious partier. Even _I_ took notes."

"What? No, Lucifer. I didn't mean…" Chloe began, but than her brain stuttered again and she turned to look up over her shoulder. Lucifer was far too close, especially given their shaky relationship as of late. She took a step away from him and turned fully. "What did you mean by _taking her own life_?"

"Suicide note." Ella's voice interrupted as she stepped over the body to join the two. "Got it right here."

"No. I seriously don't believe it." Chloe said, shaking her head.

"Detective," Lucifer purred, his smile growing wicked. "I had no idea you were a fan of Vicki's."

"I was not a fan of _Vicki's_." Chloe snapped a bit too childishly as she scanned over the note Ella had handed to her. "I knew her from High School."

"You went to High School with LA's premier party guest? Do tell?" Lucifer grinned and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"We went to Westside High together. You might think she was all that and a bag of chips, but from what I experienced, she was a mythic bitch." Chloe grumbled.

"Detective! Now I absolutely _must_ have some details." Lucifer said, bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet.

"Look at this," Chloe said, holding up the note before reading aloud. " _Everyone thinks that my life is a perfect paradise, but, in truth, I hid behind a myriad of masks to keep the world from knowing how truly scared and alone I felt on a daily basis."_

Chloe snorted a laugh and everyone in the room stopped to stare at her. She blinked and cleared her throat as her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink.

"Okay, laughing at a suicide note is probably not the most professional of reactions, _but_ you guys didn't know her." Chloe explained, directing most of her explanation to Ella since Lucifer seemed to be appreciating Chloe's outburst with unabashed glee. "I doubt Victoria even knew what the word _myriad_ means. This doesn't sound like her at all."

"Well, we'll know if she wrote this soon enough. We've got plenty of writing samples to compare it to from around the house." Ella said as she took the note back from Chloe and slid it into a plastic evidence bag. "If this is fake, I'll find out."

"Do we have a cause of death?" Chloe asked and Ella gave her a shrug.

"It looks like she drank poison." Ella said, picking up a glass by the body and giving it a quick sniff. "Drain cleaner would be my guess."

"That's a bit lowbrow from someone who was on the front page of every high-society website in the country." Chloe said, thinking out loud to herself.

"You think someone murdered her, detective?" Lucifer asked, his hands tucked in his pockets as he looked down at her with a raised brow.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that something doesn't feel right about this." Chloe said, looking up at Lucifer and seeing that he was nodding. He was listening. Did he agree with her?

"Well, far be it for me to question the judgement of a seasoned LAPD detective." Lucifer grinned. "Where do we start?"

Chloe's stomach flipped over itself at those words and, for a moment, she couldn't think of what to say.

"Detective?" Lucifer prompted, his brow furrowing in concern when Chloe didn't respond right away.

"Right. We start…" Chloe paused and bit her bottom lip to think quickly. "We start where were always start. Find out who she spent her time with and ask them questions about Victoria's private life. Maybe she pissed off a fan, maybe she owed someone money, maybe her lover killed her."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about the last one." Lucifer said and Chloe looked up at him in confusion before his wicked smirk hit her like a tonne of bricks.

"Right. And when was the last time _you_ saw her?" Chloe asked, her stomach turning because she really didn't want to know the answer.

"Two days ago. She was a guest at one of my higher-end parties at _Lux_." Lucifer preened. "And then a guest at a much more… _private_ event in my penthouse."

"Yeah, you slept with her. I get it." Chloe said coldly before turning to head towards the exit. It shouldn't bother her. It really shouldn't. Lucifer had sex with anything that had a pulse… but this had been _Victoria Kate_. Cruel, pompous, utterly _horrible_ Victoria Kate. The unprompted image of Lucifer and Victoria together made Chloe's cheeks go pink… and this time not from embarrassment.

"More than once, but that was our last rendezvous." Lucifer provided, quickly striding up behind Chloe to keep up with her hasty escape. "She was what I call a _frequent flyer_."

"Yeah, great. Mmhmm. I really don't care." Chloe said softly as she made her way out of the crime scene and headed towards her car. She just wanted to get away from him before she exploded and said something she'd regret. Victoria always had a way of getting under Chloe's skin, apparently even in death.

"She was in perfectly good spirits the last time I saw her." Lucifer provided, still dogging his partner's steps. "She desired to start her own clothing line which I offered to help get off the ground. For a favour, of course, because the Devil doesn't do freebees–"

"Lucifer!" Chloe snapped and spun on her heels to glare up at the man. He skidded to a halt so that he didn't bowl over her and watched her with confusion. She'd had enough. The thought that Victoria had been so cozy with Lucifer just two days ago while Chloe cried into a glass a wine after being treated like crap… it broke her resolve.

"Go home." She said, glaring daggers up at Lucifer.

The confused look on her partner's face broke into something far more vulnerable before he quickly schooled it into a more neutral expression.

"Nonsense, Detective. I'll be of great use on this case." Lucifer chided. "I believe your instincts are correct when you say you don't think this is a suicide. I knew the victim. She wasn't–" 

"Yes. You _knew_ her, Lucifer. Intimately. You're too close to the case. Remember the last time you were sleeping with the victims? Your other _frequent flyer_? It's a conflict of interest." Chloe said before narrowing her eyes. "And you know what? You are technically a suspect."

That accusation got a reaction that Chloe wasn't expecting in the least. Lucifer's face _crumbled_ and he looked at Chloe in a way that reminded her of the night over a year ago when Malcom Graham had tried to frame him for the murder of the street preacher.

"You… you think I would do such a thing?" He asked, his voice unbearably soft.

"I know what you're capable of. I know what you did to the _Sinnerman._ " Chloe hissed back, keeping her voice quiet so that no on in earshot could hear. If Chloe had thought he'd looked devastated before, nothing could have prepared her for the broken look on his face.

"You… you think I…" Lucifer began, but his words petered off into nothingness.

"I don't know what to think, Lucifer." Chloe said, holding her ground, even though she knew in her gut that she was acting like a complete asshole. She'd already regretted her words. She already felt awful, but her anger at Victoria Kate had clearly never dissipated even after _years_ of being away from her and now she was stupidly taking it out on Lucifer like a jealous fool. "But I have to take into account every possibility. Go home."

"But… Detective… I didn't–" Lucifer pleaded and Chloe held up a hand.

"Go home, Lucifer. We're done." Chloe said before stomping off to her car, getting in, and driving away. 

If she was forced to wash her face and redo her makeup in the car before reentering the precinct, that was her business and no one else's.

* * *

 

Lucifer sat at the bar of Lux nursing a glass of scotch and staring into space.

The detective had kicked him off a case. The only other time that had happened was when Malcolm Graham had gone off the rails and besmirched Lucifer's reputation. That had been so long ago and he and Chloe were still figuring out their friendship and whatever else they might have been.

This was different.

Lucifer felt like it had almost been vindictive of her, which wasn't like the detective at all. She wasn't the vindictive sort. She was kind, and just, and achingly _good_. Unlike Lucifer, she wasn't capable of just being mean for mean's sake… was she?

"You look awful." Amenadiel said, rousing Lucifer out of his thoughts. He turned to look at his brother with a scowl before returning to his drink.

"What do you want?" Lucifer asked, frowning down at his glass. "Done playing _hide the sausage_ with the good doctor for the day?"

"What?" Amenadiel asked, looking horrified.

"Oh please, Maze told me." Lucifer snorted, finishing his drink in one swallow and slamming the glass on the counter. "No worries, brother. Be it not my place to judge. Doctor Linda is an excellent sexual partner. I should know."

"Luci, please don't…" Amenadiel grimaced and shook his head. "It's not like that."

"Oh? It's complicated then? Fascinating." Lucifer smiled, though the grin didn't reach his eyes. "I'm sure Maze would _adore_ hearing all about what it's _not like_."

"I'm not here to discuss my personal issues with you." Amenadiel said, stepping closer and watching as Lucifer poured himself another drink. "I'm here to… well… I'm here… to…"

"Please do spit it out, Amenadiel. Can't you see I'm busy wallowing?" Lucifer snapped as he waved his drink towards his brother.

"I need a favour." Amenadiel spit out and Lucifer froze before a wicked smile overtook his face. "No. Don't do that."

"Don't do what, brother? Smile? Well, apologies, but I can't help it." Lucifer grinned. "It's not every day that my holier-than-thou fallen sibling reaches out to me for a favour. Colour me intrigued."

"I… it's… it's about my wings." Amenadiel said, his eyes falling to the floor.

"Your wings? Have they been fully restored?" Lucifer asked giddily. "Can I finally say goodbye to your feathered arse for another millennia?"

"No. They have not." Amenadiel said, looking up at Lucifer with a frown. "They remain the same as always. Withered and bald. I am still mortal."

"Oh. Well, that's boring. I was hoping I could send you packing back to the Silver City with a bottle of scotch and a swift kick in the arse." Lucifer sighed, quickly tossing back his tumbler again.

"I want to cut them off." Amenadiel said, his voice stoney.

Lucifer had seen spit-takes on television and in films, but he had never thought they were real until he found himself choking on his own scotch and working quickly to spit it back into his glass lest he waste a good vintage.

"You _what_?" He asked, staring at his brother completely dumbfounded.

"You heard me, Luci." Amenadiel said, slowly approaching before taking a seat beside his brother at the bar. "It's something I've thought about for a long time and, after long consideration, I have decided that it is for the best. They are useless weights on my back and only serve to remind me of my failings. It's time to move forward."

"Well, I'm impressed." Lucifer said, placing his glass down and turning to fully look at his brother, one arm resting on the bar. "This coming from the angel who repeatedly told me that the removal of my wings was an abomination."

" _I_ _am_ an abomination. I have been cast out, just as you–" Amenadiel began but Lucifer cut him off.

"Not _just_ like me. _"_ Lucifer glared darkly. No one was cast out of heaven like him. No one felt the pain of the fall as he did. No one ever will, either, it seemed.

"No. I suppose not." Amenadiel acquiesced. "But this is your territory. You know what to do and I believe it's time for me to fully embrace that I am never returning home nor will I ever fly again."

"I wouldn't be so impatient, brother." Lucifer said, turning back to his drink and quickly finishing it. "Look at me. I waited eons and now I'm all shiny and new, horrid wings and lack of terror-inducing burn scars to prove it."

"Which you never asked for." Amenadiel said and Lucifer looked over to see a slight look of jealousy on his brother's face.

"If it's any consolation, Amenadiel, I would trade places with you in a heartbeat." Lucifer said. "I'd slap my wings on your back and send you home in an instant. But, naturally, Dad loves to torture us with the things we don't want."

There was something distant and sad in Lucifer's eyes and Amenadiel followed easily enough.

"Like Chloe?" He asked in a gentle voice and Lucifer sighed.

"She kicked me off a case today." Lucifer said, reaching for the bottle of scotch again and this time pouring two glasses and handing one to his brother. Amenadiel took the glass, but didn't drink. "She thinks that I'm evil."

"No she doesn't." Amenadiel scoffed. "You just angered her again. You do that. A lot. She'll come around."

"No, dear brother, I don't believe that is in the cards for this round." Lucifer said sadly, shaking his head. "She was cruel in a way that I've never seen before."

"Did you apologise for whatever transgression has upset her so?" Amenadiel asked and Lucifer snorted softly.

"I don't even know what I've done. Our friendship has been… unstable as of late." Lucifer said before taking a quick sip from his drink. "She didn't even text me about this case. Miss Lopez did."

"What happened?" Amenadiel inquired and Lucifer turned to look at him sadly.

"She sent me home. Said that I was a suspect in the murder because I've had relations with the victim." Lucifer said before clearing his throat and downing the rest of his drink. "But you're not here to listen to my problems. You're here for help. Let's move this party upstairs, shall we? I've got a demon blade with your name on it."

Without allowing Amenadiel to respond, Lucifer stood up and strode towards the stairs with purpose. He had a deal to make.


	2. A Huge Dick

Chloe strode into the precinct the following Monday to find Ella at her desk. Ella was bouncing on her toes excitedly, clearly chomping at the bit to tell Chloe what she'd discovered.

"I take it you have something for me?" Chloe asked with a knowing smirk.

"Ya darn tootin'." Ella said with a big smile. "You'll never guess what I found. The suicide note, _totally_ a fake."

"Seriously? You're sure?" Chloe asked, trying to clamp down on her pride. She _knew_ that Victoria couldn't have written that note.

"Completely." Ella said. "And the total cray-cray part? The handwriting is almost an exact match. It's an excellent forgery. If we didn't have the tech we've got now, we never would have been able to tell the difference."

"So what was the giveaway?" Chloe asked, reaching out to take the file that Ella had in her hand.

"Check it out." Ella said, pointing to a bit of data in the file. "We found DNA on the right side of the paper, and, after further analysis, I was able to prove that the writer had their palm on the right side of the paper. Like this."

Ella then grabbed a pen from the cup on Chloe's desk and placed her hand on a file that was at the top of Chloe's paperwork stack, imitating the action of writing.

"Okay." Chloe said, nodding. "I get that much, but how does that prove it wasn't Victoria."

"Because," Ella said, "it was clearly written by a righty. All the comparison evidence we took from Victoria's condo showed that she was a _lefty_. DNA on the left side. Plus, the lettering on the suicide note was slanted slightly the wrong way for a lefty to be the one doing the writing. Bonus, epithelial examination shows that the person who wrote the note was a _dude_ , dude."

"Wait, so our killer is confirmed male?" Chloe asked and Ella nodded.

"Totally a man. Not enough DNA for a comparison, but definitely a male." Ella grinned. "There was also another substance absorbed in the paper, but there was so little of it, I couldn't get a solid spectral analysis to identify it."

"Well, it's a step in the right direction. We now know that this is officially a murder." Chloe said taking the file and placing it on her desk. "I suppose this means that we're going to have to look a bit more into Victoria's past and see why someone would want to kill her. Though it'll probably be rough waters. She was a complete bitch."

"Woah. You really didn't like her, did you?" Ella frowned and Chloe winced.

"Mm, I probably shouldn't have said that, huh?" Chloe said, feeling suddenly embarrassed.

"Nah, dude. It's cool. I'm a Latina who grew up poor in Detroit." Ella said before reaching out to pat Chloe's shoulder. "I know what it's like to have people treat you like crap just because they think they can. If you ever want to talk about it, you know I'm always here. We're Tribe."

Chloe gave Ella a warm smile. That made her feel a little better. Granted, the idea of someone like Victoria bullying a bright ray of sunshine like Ella made Chloe want to shoot something, but that was beside the point.

"I'm okay. I just can't let it cloud my judgement. As much as I hated Victoria, she deserves justice." Chloe said before she and Ella were quickly interrupted by Dan brandishing a file.

"Hey guys. We got another body. Same MO. Wealthy person. Looks like a suicide." He said. "Unis just called it in."

"Well, so much for my morning coffee." Chloe groaned before all three packed up and headed out to their next crime scene.

* * *

 

"Graham Kent, age 36, real-estate mogul." Said the uniformed officer that greeted Chloe and Dan at the door of the rather ostentatious mansion.

"Is that a gold toilet?" Dan asked as they passed the bathroom while walking towards the living room.

Chloe didn't answer as she focussed solely on the words the officer had said. It couldn't be…

"Graham ' _The Ram_ ' Kent? Seriously?" Chloe supplied before being greeted by the confirmation to her question.

Sitting in the leather armchair on one side of the room, was the body of a 36-year-old caucasian man who was built like a brick house. In his right hand was a .22 calibre pistol and, in his left, was a small piece of paper. Graham's head was angled awkwardly from his neck and a rather obvious hole was gaping where his right eyebrow should be.

"You know him?" Dan asked and Chloe blinked herself back into the moment before turning to Dan.

"Yeah. Well, no. Sort of." Chloe provided and Dan raised one of his eyebrows.

"Uh, which is it?" He asked and Chloe frowned.

"I went to high school with him, too. He was the linebacker on the football team." Chloe said. "He was also a total dick, but other than him occasionally smacking my lunch tray out of my hands, I rarely interacted with him."

"Jeeze, for real, Chloe? You know both the victims?" Dan asked.

"To be fair, I wasn't friends with them in any way. They were bullies and the only time they ever paid me any attention was to make fun of me for having a mom who was in crappy sci-fi films." Chloe said, shaking her head. "And don't even get me started on… ya know. The movie _I_ was in."

"You don't think you're connected in any way, do you?" Dan asked and Chloe's furrow deepened.

"I can't think of how. I wasn't on the same level as these people." Chloe said. "To them, I was just another kid to torment."

"Woah." Ella said from the entryway, having shown up with the forensics team to process the scene. "Obviously I can't call it here, but I think cause of death might be the bullet to the skull."

"I think that's probably a safe bet." Chloe nodded. "But what about the note?"

"Way ahead of you, Chlo-bro." Ella said and Chloe and Dan blinked at her. Ella smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Bad nickname?"

"I wouldn't say 'bad.'" Chloe frowned.

"Too much?" Ella said with a small wince.

"Maybe." Dan smirked.

"Okay, I'll keep working on it. For now, let's take a look at this guy's supposed last words." Ella said before heading into the room to start examining the evidence.

"Why don't you go poke the neighbours and see what you can find out about Kent?" Chloe said, turning to Dan. "I'll canvas the house and see if I can find anything that might point to our killer being here."

"Good plan." Dan said with a nod. He turned to head towards the door before pausing. "Hey, where's Lucifer? I haven't seen him in a few days."

"Oh, I… um…" Chloe paused before taking a breath to focus. "I sent him home. He knew the last victim. Personally. Conflict of interest."

"Since when did that ever stop him from hounding you?" Dan chuckled, but his laughter died quickly when he saw the sullen look forming at the corner of Chloe's lips. "Did something happen?"

"I may have… said some things to him. Not nice things. It wasn't my finest moment." Chloe said before sighing. "It was because of Victoria."

"The dead woman made you angry with Lucifer?" Dan asked, clearly not following.

"No… well, yes. She and I have a history. An old one, but I don't have any fond memories of her at all." Chloe said, trying her best to explain. "And when Lucifer said that he regularly spent time with her, I may have… overreacted."

"Wait…" Dan said as a small smirk started to pull at his mouth. "Were you _jealous_? I thought that thing between the two of you was over."

"What? No! Noooo. Definitely not jealous and _definitely_ over." Chloe said a bit too quickly while waving her hands in front of her as if to chase away the notion. "No. I just think I took my hostility towards Victoria out on Lucifer. But, to be fair, it really is a conflict of interest. He was with her two days before she was killed."

"Okay. I get what you're saying, but Lucifer has slept with half of LA. It's _bound_ to come up on occasion." Dan said, chuckling softly. "I mean, remember the flight attendants? That was just a coincidence. This probably is too."

"Ugh, I know. I know." Chloe groaned, running her hands through her hair.

"Why don't you ask him about this victim? Just send him a text." Dan suggested. "If he really is too close to this case, he'd have had some sort of relationship with this guy too, right?"

"Yeah, you know what? Yeah." Chloe said and the next thing she knew, she was reaching into her pocket to grab her phone.

**_"Do you know Graham Kent?"_** She typed, sending the text message quickly. She got a response almost immediately.

_" **The**_ **_real estate broker? Yes. He sold me a few properties in the area._** ** _"_ **

"Crap." Chloe said while frowning down at her phone.

"What? Seriously?" Dan said, his eyebrows raised. "He banged this guy too?"

"I don't know. But apparently Lucifer bought real estate from him." Chloe said, her brows furrowed. "Damnit, Lucifer…"

"Hang on, Chloe. This guy sold high-end property, right? It only stands to reason that he'd have dealt with Mr. Moneybags Morningstar at some point." Dan said, chuckling at his own stupid joke. "Ask him for more info."

"Right." Chloe nodded before quickly typing out, **_"What can you tell me about him?"_**

Chloe stared down at her phone as the tiny dots indicated that Lucifer was typing back. It was clearly not a short answer. She all but prayed that the response wouldn't be some overly descriptive retelling of Lucifer's sexual conquest with _The Ram_.

** _"He's a bit of a pompous arse._ _I've only met him on three occasions, but each time he insisted on showing off his wealth._   _He was trying too hard. Like someone who wanted everyone to know that he was somehow better than the rest of those around him based solely on his affluence._ _I found it terribly irritating and off-putting.  It's why I abandoned him a few years ago for a different real estate agent."_ **

Chloe couldn't help but smile at those words because they were just so _Lucifer_. Yes, Lucifer was rich, but he didn't flaunt his wealth in the typical rich-person fashion. Yes, he liked expensive things, but he spent it mostly because he could, not because he wanted to show off. He shared his money almost frighteningly often. The image of a certain doll for her daughter came to mind. Lucifer bought it because Chloe had said it was too expensive. He had been trying, though he was entirely misguided, to help because he could, not because he wanted to prove to anyone that he was better than them.

"So, not boinking the dead guy?" Dan asked, watching fondly and breaking Chloe out of her thoughts. She blinked up at her ex and smiled.

"No. No boinking. Apparently Lucifer thought he was a jerk and stopped working with him a few years ago." Chloe said and Dan reached out to clap her shoulder.

"See? No conflict of interest there." Dan said, clutching Chloe's shoulder reassuringly before looking down at the phone.

"Fine. I'll tell him to meet us." Chloe laughed and shook her head. "Never thought I'd see the day where you actually _wanted_ Lucifer Morningstar around."

"What can I say?" Dan said with a shrug. "The guy grows on you after a while. Like a fungus."

Both Dan and Chloe burst out laughing as Chloe texted her partner the address to meet her for their case.

* * *

 

"So, have I been taken out of the dog house?" Lucifer asked as he sauntered up to the crime scene. The broken expression that Chloe had left on his face during their last meeting was gone, but Lucifer's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Chloe felt terrible.

"Look, Lucifer. I'm sorry. Those things I said–" Chloe began but Lucifer held up a hand to stop her.

"Think nothing of it, detective." Lucifer said, flicking his hand.

"No. No, Lucifer. I really need to properly apologise." Chloe said, shaking her head before reaching out to take the hand that Lucifer so casually waved in dismissal and gave it a small squeeze. "Victoria Kate and I have a history. And not a nice one. I think I just let my bottled up dislike of her rub off on you for a moment and that was wrong. I shouldn't have taken out an old grudge on you. I'm sorry."

Lucifer's face did that thing where it relaxed and his head tilted a bit to the side as his expression opened.

"I… thank you." Lucifer said quietly before looking down at their hands. "I truly thought that you… well, it doesn't matter. You didn't mean it and you've apologised."

The softness vanished and Lucifer's face quickly morphed back into it's normal, casual gleefulness.

"Water under the bridge, as they say. All if forgiven." He grinned before pulling his hand away and gesturing towards the commotion in the next room. "Shall we go see a jaunty forensic technician about a dead man?"

"We shall." Chloe smiled before heading back into the crime scene.

"Lucifer! Hey buddy!" Ella exclaimed, waving a hand gripping an evidence bag. "Good to see you back."

"Good to be back, Miss Lopez. So, what tragic event unfolded here that ended with this fellow putting a bullet in his forehead?" Lucifer asked and Ella shook her head.

"Nope. Graham Kent definitely did not put the bullet there himself." Ella said before pointing down at the body. "See how he's holding the gun in his right hand. The entry wound to the skull actually originates from the back of the head, left side, exiting the front in the middle of his right eyebrow."

Ella then made a gun shape with her own right hand and demonstrate what it would look like if someone had been trying to shoot themselves on the left side with their right hand. She looked ridiculous. Her elbow was pointed up at a strange angle and she couldn't manage to get her hand completely around her head.

"There was no way that Kent could have shot himself at this angle." Ella said, dropping her hand before waking over to other side of the room where an evidence marker was hanging on the wall. "Kent was shot from behind, while standing, and the bullet ended up in the wall here. Judging by the trajectory, he was shot by someone of the same height, so roughly six three, and he was turning towards his attacker when the shot was fired. This whole scene was completely staged. And sloppily. The only thing that was done well was the suicide note, just like the last scene."

"Forged?" Chloe prompted and Ella nodded enthusiastically.

"Yup. There's plenty of paperwork in Kent's home office to compare it to and this was, once again, a top-notch job." Ella said.

"So you were right, detective?" Lucifer asked, smiling brightly down at Chloe. "Vicki's note was a fake, too?"

"It totally was." Ella confirmed, thankfully giving Chloe more time to process Lucifer calling Victoria _Vicki_. Her gut had raged and she didn't want to spit venom at him again. He didn't know how awful Victoria had been to her when they were in school together. He didn't deserve her wrath.

"Well, it looks like we've got a serial killer on our hands." Lucifer said, his tone far too peppy for someone talking about serial killers.

"Let's hope not." Chloe said with a shake of her head. "We don't want more bodies showing up or the media frenzy."

"Naturally not, detective, but serial killers are always so interesting." Lucifer said and Chloe rolled her eyes. "Their desires, I mean. Not the killer themselves. People who kill for fun are loathsome, but punishing them is always a joy."

"Uh, yeah. Sure. More bad guys off the street and behind bars is definitely a good thing." Chloe said, trying to take Lucifer's _Luciferness_ in stride, as always.

"Oh, hey man! Welcome back." Dan said enthusiastically as he returned to the crime scene, notebook in hand.

"Hello, Daniel." Lucifer said, offering Dan a cordial smile. "And what have you been up to?"

"Talking to the neighbours, who live practically _miles_ away, thank you." Dan groaned before flipping through his notebook. "Apparently, nobody around here socialises much with each other. They all mostly keep to themselves and their own group of friends. Nobody had any info on Kent at all other than what we already know."

"Damn. Well, I guess we'll have to start digging deeper." Chloe said before turning to Lucifer. "Let's head back to the precinct and we can start with Victoria. You run in the same circles as she does, so you can tell me who she's frequently seen with."

"I am at your disposal, detective." Lucifer said with a grin and Chloe sighed to herself. He really was a dork. How could she have ever thought he could have been involved in Victoria's killing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used emojis in Lucifer's texts, but Ao3 apparently can't handle them. Rude.


	3. Hunting Jocks

Chloe was jealous. 

She had to admit it to herself now or it would consume her for the entirety of the case which would lead to her losing it on Lucifer again. That couldn't happen. She was a good cop. A good detective. A good partner. She wouldn't let it get to her. She had to admit it to herself so that she could easily identify her feelings and push them aside.

Lucifer's life was sometimes sickeningly awesome. 

They had sat at her desk for hours going through the society pages of all of LA's most popular websites along with some popular blogs as well. They were currently clicking through _Just Jared_ while Lucifer explained, with great detail, who everyone was and how they were all connected to each other.

As much as Chloe didn't like fame and preferred to remain out of the spotlight, she couldn't help but yearn for the comfort of not having to care how much money she was spending or what her plans were going to be for the evening.

As Lucifer surfed through the images, Chloe started to zone out, unable to keep up with the intricate drama that was life and times of LA's rich and famous. That was, until a familiar name popped up and grabbed her attention.

"Kelly Curtis, CEO of Curtis Pharmaceuticals. Now there's a bloke I'd chin if given the chance." Lucifer chuckled and Chloe reached out to stop him from clicking to the next image, gripping his hand a bit too tightly.

"You know Kelly Curtis?" She asked, searching Lucifer's face.

"Well, I wouldn't say I _know_ him as much as I've just happened to be in his presence on a few occasions." Lucifer said. "He's been to a couple of my parties with Vicki on his arm, but I only gave him my attention once. The way he spoke about Vicki and the numerous other women in his life left me a bit… disenchanted. Honestly, misogyny is _so_ outdated, not to mention completely ridiculous. To think that someone is incapable because of their naughty bits–" 

"Lucifer, focus." Chloe said as she released Lucifer's hand. She didn't even realise she was still holding it. "You said that Curtis was still hanging around Victoria?"

"Yes. Apparently they would see each other on and off for years." Lucifer nodded. "But he treated her poorly and she finally cut him loose properly a few months ago."

"Maybe the scorned lover idea wasn't a bad hunch." Chloe said and ticked her head to the image on her computer screen. "Victoria, Graham, and Kelly were friends in high school. They always ran together with a couple of other rich, popular kids. They were top dogs back in the day. Victoria was head cheerleader, Graham was a linebacker, and Kelly was the quarterback. Maybe something happened between the three of them that caused Kelly to exact his revenge."

"Ohh, a love triangle." Lucifer purred excitedly. "Enticing. Shall we go visit our potential third wheel?"

"I think it may be a solid lead if we can prove Victoria and Kelly's breakup was bad." Chloe nodded and Lucifer suddenly stood to lean over her. Chloe froze as her partner wrapped his arms around her and leaned in tight to type on her computer, his chest pressed firmly into her back. 

Lucifer smelt, unsurprisingly, like whiskey and tobacco, but not in the reeking way that left a sour taste on your tongue. There was also a hint of his usual cologne that he must have applied that morning. It was wearing off, but Lucifer was so close to Chloe that she could just catch the barest scent of it. She could feel his breath against the back of her ear and she had to bite her lip to keep herself from shivering. This was completely not okay at all.

Chloe _hated_ that she still reacted to him like this, even after all he'd done to her. She may never forgive him for running off and getting married right when they were on the cusp of something more intimate, but she wasn't blind or _dead_. Yes, Lucifer was attractive.

"Check this out." Lucifer said. His proximity made his voice rumble through her like motorbike passing too close and Chloe bit her lip harder while trying her best to focus on the screen.

He'd pulled up Youtube reveal a shaky vertical video. It was clearly taken in a crowded restaurant and titled VICTORIA KATE LOSES IT and it showed an angry Victoria Kate shouting and yelling while throwing whatever she could get her hands on at an apologetic-looking Kelly Curtis.

"I can't believe you cheated on me again!" Victoria screamed. "You pig!"

"Come on, babe. You were in Milan with Chandler Duke for _so_ long. It didn't mean anything. I was just lonely." Kelly said, and Chloe couldn't help but smirk as that line earned another plate thrown at him.

"Lonely! LONELY!?" Victoria shrieked, this time throwing silverware. "I'll show you lonely, you whoring prick! I'll bang every man in LA before I _ever_ touch you again!"

Victoria started picking up a chair and the waitstaff finally jumped in to drag the two of them apart. The rest of the video was of both Kelly and Victoria being escorted out while police showed up to break the couple apart. Victoria made a few more lunges but the cops put a stop to it.

"Damn." Chloe hissed, wincing a bit as Victoria landed a final blow with her stiletto, making contact with Kelly's crotch.

"Talk about your acrimonious partings." Lucifer said and Chloe jumped in surprise. She'd forgotten how close he was until his voice was directly in her ear. Lucifer then quickly stood up and Chloe would absolutely not admit to herself that she felt slightly colder.

"Y-yeah. That was rough." Chloe agreed before turning to look up at Lucifer. "I suppose we should get the police report of the incident and bring Kelly in for questioning."

"Excellent plan, detective." Lucifer smiled. "Let's go hunt us a jock."

* * *

 

"Crap." Chloe said. A host of police cruisers and a surprised Dan Espinoza greeted her and Lucifer as they pulled up to Kelly Curtis's estate in Malibu.

"I was seriously just about to call you." Dan said and Chloe let out a long sigh.

"He's dead, isn't he?" She asked and Dan frowned softly before looking up at Lucifer.

"Kelly Curtis. Our first suspect." Lucifer provided and Dan gave a regretful nod.

"Sorry, Chlo. Same as the others. Fake suicide." Dan said and Chloe groaned before stomping off towards the front door of Curtis's home.

"Man, that sucks." Dan commented as he joined Lucifer in following Chloe's trail. "Losing a lead like that."

"Yes, well, more evidence for us to find our killer, I suppose." Lucifer said and Dan whacked him gently on the shoulder with his notebook.

"Dude. Someone is dead. Not cool." Dan said, shaking his head.

"A rather disgustingly useless someone. Did he deserve to die? No. I would have preferred he got a bad case of the clap." Lucifer said as both men stepped inside and Dan lead up the stairs towards the bedroom. "He was a twat."

"You knew this guy, too?" Dan asked.

"I know what you're thinking, Daniel." Lucifer said as he turned to give Dan a bright smile. "I knew him more by reputation than interaction. The one meeting I had with him turned me off him entirely. He was boorish. Not the type of person I keep within my social circles."

"So, you didn't like the last two victims, but did like Victoria?" Dan asked and Lucifer stopped walking just before they entered the master bedroom.

"Just what are you implying, Danial?" Lucifer asked, turning his head so that he could look Dan in the eyes.

"Dude, no. I'm not saying you had anything to do with it. It's just weird." Dan said. "Both you and Chloe are connected to all this, but in different ways. It might be worth looking into."

"Well, that is what led us here in the first place." Lucifer nodded. "My knowledge of LA's high-society and the detective's past relationships with the victims."

"Guess it's a good thing this case landed on Chloe's desk, huh?" Dan said. "No one else would have made the connections so easily."

"Guys, come see this." Chloe's voice came from the bedroom and both men turned to head inside.

Kelly Curtis was lying prone on his bed, a gunshot wound to the temple. He was naked except for–

"Tighty-whities? Seriously? People still wear those?" Lucifer balked, trying his best to hold back a snigger.

"So it would seem." Chloe said flatly. "But I'm more concerned with the gunshot wound."

"Yeah, before you ask." Ella prompted, leaning carefully over Curtis's head. "This one was much cleaner in the ways of staging. If I didn't know what to look for, I would have said this was self-inflicted."

"So it's still a murder." Chloe said and Ella nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah. The powder burns are all wrong. This dude was shot from at least three or four feet away." Ella said, climbing off the bed to point her fingers at the body. "He was also sitting up when he was shot and, from the clothes we found in the hamper, was dressed when killed."

"So our killer shot and stripped Curtis? Why?" Lucifer asked, his nose scrunching up in confusion. "Please don't tell me we've got a necropheliac on our hands."

"No, no. Definitely not." Ella said, shaking her head. "Other than being stripped, the body hasn't been touched after death. The note is even stranger."

She grabbed a plastic bag containing a piece of paper and handed it to Lucifer who took it and began to read out loud.

" _I couldn't go on living knowing that Graham was gone. We had to hide our love from a cruel and unforgiving world and now I cannot bare a life without him._ " Lucifer said, his eyebrows shooting into his hairline before he glanced up at Chloe. "Wait. Kent and Curtis were shagging? That can't be right. I would have noticed. I have impeccable gaydar."

"I mean, they did spend an unusual amount of time together when we were younger." Chloe said thoughtfully, not really taking into account that she was egging Lucifer on. "They were inseparable."

"Yes, like two best mates tend to be, but not sexually. I would have known. I can sense it. Neither of them paid me much mind when it came to attraction." Lucifer said with a shrug. "They were too busy chasing whatever fine pair of breasts walked by. At least, Curtis was."

"Seriously, dude. Not everyone wants to have sex with you." Dan said with a chuckle before he found himself under Lucifer's focussed gaze.

"You've thought about it, Daniel." Lucifer purred and Chloe choked on her own spit before coughing loudly to try and get her breath back and chase away the fire in her cheeks.

"Alright, well, regardless of whether or not they were secretly together, the note still doesn't make sense." Ella said, diffusing the tension… hopefully. "By my estimation, Kent died _after_ Curtis. By at least half a day. I'll know more in the lab, but it could explain why Kent's murder was so sloppy."

"Maybe Kent was here with Curtis, but left before the killer had a chance to take him down. Chased him home, perhaps?" Chloe prompted and Dan, who looked like he'd swallowed a lemon, nodded.

"Yeah. The killer tried to take them both out and make it look like a suicide pact only to have one of his victims get away." Dan said, his voice cracking slightly as he regained his composure.

"Who would want all three of these people dead?" Lucifer asked now focussed on the case instead of Dan. "Yes, Vicki and Curtis would still be seen together, but I rarely saw Kent at any of the high-end parties across LA."

"Chloe, didn't you say you went to high school with all these people?" Ella asked and Chloe nodded.

"Yeah, but that was years ago. I have no idea what their lives are like now." Chloe said.

"What would you think if this happened when you were still a wide-eyed teen, detective?" Lucifer asked.

"I don't know." Chloe shrugged. "I guess I would have been shocked, but slightly relieved. I mean, these three were ruthless bullies. I'm sure there were plenty of kids who would have agreed with me back then."

"WHAT IS GOING ON! LET ME THROUGH!" Came a loud screeching, drawing everyone's attention to the woman bellowing from downstairs.

Dan, Chloe, and Lucifer all headed back down to see a rather attractive brunette trying her best to move past the officer at the door.

"Let me through! Where is Kelly!? What happened?" She demanded and Chloe stepped forward to hold her hands up.

"Ma'am. Ma'am. I'm going to have to ask you to calm down." Chloe said as calmly and professionally as she could. "This is an active crime scene. Why don't we step outside?"

The woman let out a frustrated growl before pushing herself away from the uniformed officer and stomping off out to the driveway.

"Do you know who that is?" Chloe asked Dan and her ex just shrugged. "Okay, go back upstairs to work with Ella and Lucifer and I will take care of this."

"We most certainly will." Lucifer grinned, clearly eyeing the woman's backside as she stormed off.

"Ugh, Lucifer. No hitting on witnesses. We've been through this." Chloe hissed, her tone conveying her annoyance.

"But, detective, look at her. She's–" Lucifer began, but Chloe held up a hand.

"I don't care." She growled, her eyes hard. "Professional behaviour or I'll send you home again."

Lucifer, for all it was worth, looked appropriately chided and he nodded his head toward her in acknowledgement. Well, at least he'd learned at least one lesson from her outburst at Victoria's house.

With Chloe leading the way, the two of them approached the irate woman. Chloe pulled out her notebook and nodded. The angry woman was attractive, tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. She obviously took great pride in her appearance as she wore tasteful makeup and an elegant pencil skirt and blouse that showed off every curve without revealing too much.

"Hello. I'm Detective Decker and this is my partner, Lucifer Morningstar." Chloe began, but was almost immediately cut off by the woman.

"Oh my _GOD_!" She exclaimed and Chloe caught Lucifer's wince out of the corner of her eye. "Decker? Chloe Decker?"

"Uh, yeah." Chloe nodded, suddenly feeling confused. "Do we know each other?"

"Yes! Lisa! Lisa McDonough." The woman, Lisa, said before laughing. "I used to be Lisa Hardras. You remember? Lisa _Lardass_? I'm divorced now, but kept the name. You know how it is."

"I… woah." Chloe responded, suddenly flooded with memories and unable to respond right away.

"I see nothing _lardass_ about you, darling." Lucifer chimed in and Lisa giggled girlishly. So much for not flirting with witnesses.

"Oh, that was from high school. I was _huge_." Lisa said before running her hands down her slim body. "I think I'm about a quarter of the woman I was back then."

"Well, you do certainly look stunning." Lucifer said, his voice dropping down into that annoying seductive purr that Chloe loathed.

"Wow, Lisa. You do look great. But… what?" Chloe said, finding it difficult to ask the question.

"What am I doing here? I work for Kelly." Lisa said. "I'm his personal assistant."

"For real? You work for him?" Chloe asked. "I mean, he tortured you in school. Why work for him?"

"Oh, it's not so bad. We've all grown up. Changed, ya know?" Lisa smiled. "So what happened in there? Was there a robbery?"

"Oh." Chloe hissed. "Right. Uh, Lisa. You might want to prepare yourself. Kelly is dead."

"What?" Lisa asked, a look of shock overtaking her once cheery smile. "No. Who would… why?"

"That's what we are here to find out." Chloe said, flipping open her notebook. "Now, I know this is a lot, but do you think you can answer a few questions for me?"

"Yeah, yeah. God, this can't be happening." Lisa said, her eyes going wet.

"Um, right. Uh, when was the last time you saw Kelly?" Chloe asked and Lisa shook her head.

"Friday before we left the office. We had a long weekend so I left him alone yesterday." Lisa said. "I should have come. I should have stopped by. Especially after hearing about Vicki. I know how close they were."

"Vicki? You talk to Victoria Kate?" Chloe asked and Lisa nodded.

"Yeah. Well, we weren't friends or anything, but she was around a lot. Her and Kelly dated for a while and then they had that big blow up a few months ago. He was devastated." Lisa said with a sad frown. "I can only imagine how he felt after hearing she'd been killed."

"Can you tell me where you were this weekend?" Chloe asked, trying to sound as matter-of-fact as possible.

"Yeah. I was with my brother. You remember him, right? Jared?" Lisa said and Chloe gave a nod. "I spent the weekend at his place in Silver Lake."

"And Jared can corroborate that? Sorry, I have to ask." Chloe said and Lisa nodded, giving Chloe a sad smile.

"Yeah. I know you're just doing your job. Here." Lisa said before reaching into her bag and pulling out a business card. "Here. It's Jared's number. I'm sure he'll love to hear from you, even if it's under crappy circumstances."

"Thanks, Lisa. I'm going to ask you to stay and give the officers your info in case we have any more questions." Chloe said.

"Of course. Whatever I can do to help." Lisa nodded before heading back to her car. "I think I'm just going to go sit. This is… a lot."

"I know. Thank you for your time, Lisa." Chloe said before turning to Lucifer to gesture for them to head back to the house. She stopped mid-step to turn back and smile at her former classmate. "And Lisa, it was good to see you."

"You too." Lisa replied and gave Chloe a soft smile.

"That was nice of you." Lucifer said in her ear, making Chloe jump a bit. She turned to frown at him as he pulled away, clearly liking her reaction.

"She got as much crap as I did. Maybe even more. It's nice to see she turned out okay." Chloe said as they made their way back to the house. "She was always really nice."

"And what about her brother? Why would he be so happy to hear from you?" Lucifer asked, clearly already thinking what she knew was true.

"We dated. Only for a little while. He was the cool, outcast kid and I was the wannabe actress with a point to prove." Chloe shrugged before deciding that maybe heading back to the precinct would be better. "It didn't work out. Let's head back to the station. We need to do more digging. Whoever is killing these people _must_ be connected in some way. I think, now that I've seen Lisa, that the high school angle might be it."

"I would have to agree, detective. Too much history involved here." Lucifer nodded before his phone began to vibrate.

"Important?" Chloe asked as he pulled out his mobile.

"Doctor Linda. I don't believe I've missed a session. Odd." He picked up the phone with a cheery _Hello_ before all hell broke loose. Linda could clearly be heard screaming on the other end and she did not sound happy. "Doctor, please. Calm down."

"Is she alright?" Chloe asked, concern for her friend welling up inside.

"Yes, yes." Lucifer said, waving a hand dismissively as he listened to Linda yell. "Yes. Alright. Alright. I'll be right there."

Hanging up his phone, he turned to give Chloe a frown.

"Do you think you'll be alright without me for a short while?" He asked, pocketing his phone before playing with his cufflinks. That was something Lucifer usually did to distract himself. He was nervous. "It seems Doctor Martin is disappointed in something that I've done and wishes to have a discussion about it."

"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead." Chloe said with a nod. "I'll drop you off at the station."

"I appreciate it, detective. Thank you." Lucifer nodded, but his expression was closed off. Whatever Linda had said clearly had an effect. "Let's be off, shall we?"

Leaving a message for Dan with the officer at the door, Chloe led Lucifer to her cruiser and headed back to the precinct, her mind wondering what Lucifer could have done to upset his therapist so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "And when the morning comes,  
> They'll both be laughing stocks,  
> So let's go hunt some jocks!"


	4. Big Fun

"How could you have encouraged this!?" Linda shouted while she paced her office. Lucifer remained seated on the sofa, watching carefully as she marched back and forth in front of him. "We've talked about this behaviour and yet you let your own _brother_ – UGH!"

"I don't think you understand, doctor–" Lucifer began, but Linda cut him right off.

"Don't you _dare_ , Lucifer Morningstar. You know precisely what this was." Linda said, glaring daggers in Lucifer's direction. He had to admit that she made him feel uncomfortable.

"I wanted to help him." Lucifer said and Linda scoffed loudly.

"Oh, that's crap and you and I both know it." Linda said, shaking her head. "No. You did this to get one up on Amenadiel. To feel superior to him. It's _self harm_ , Lucifer. I can't believe you would actually do that to him."

"He asked me to." Lucifer said, starting to get a little angry himself. They wouldn't even be having this conversation if Linda and Amenadiel weren't sleeping together. "He wanted my help. He felt stifled. His wings weren't even full wings anymore. Just weights to remind him of what he no longer had. Who am I to deny him freedom from his burdens?"

"Don't pull that Devil-loves-free-will bull right now. Be honest with yourself." Linda said, placing her hands on her hips and glowering down at Lucifer from her small height advantage of standing. "You wanted to see him sink to your level. To forsake your father just as you have."

Lucifer made to speak, but Linda held up a hand.

"I'm not saying that you should forgive your father or try to appease him, but Amenadiel's loyalty to Heaven is something he prides himself on and you're helping him destroy it." Linda said, her voice growing calmer as she spoke. After taking a deep breath, Linda closed her eyes and sat down in her usual chair, placing her head in her hands. "Do you have any idea how he's feeling right now? He's so lost and you helping him cut off his wings is definitely _not_ helping. It's only hurting him."

"How? He's still an angel. That will never change." Lucifer said and Linda shook her head.

"No. He isn't. And that's the problem." Linda said sadly before looking up at Lucifer. For some reason, Lucifer felt mildly sick to his stomach.

"What do you mean, _he isn't_?" He asked, not liking where this was going.

"I only found out because I saw he was bleeding through his shirt. He doesn't heal like he used to." Linda explained. "It was so bad that we had to go to the hospital. He had to have stitches. It was really bad. Luckily, they didn't take any x-rays, but they did take blood samples, much to Amenadiel's dismay."

"And?" Lucifer asked, his head tilted curiously to the side.

"Nothing usual." Linda stated flatly and Lucifer felt his stomach drop. "Normal. Like any other human."

"That's impossible." Lucifer said, shaking his head. "You can't just… change species."

"Lucifer, your father is _God_. Of _course_ he can turn whoever he wants into whatever he wants." Linda said, letting out a soft groan and leaning back in her chair. "And I think you took away the last vestiges of angel Amenadiel had left."

"I don't understand…" Lucifer whispered and Linda suddenly chuckled darkly.

"Of course you don't. You were thinking about getting one over on your brother." Linda frowned as she looked over at Lucifer. "This is becoming a habit for you and it's a bad… no… _terrible_ one. You need to start thinking about the damage you cause when you rush into things like this. You didn't _think_ and now your brother is suffering. He feels empty. Worthless. And you didn't help at all."

"Well how… how do I… err… help?" Lucifer asked. He had never been one to comfort any of his siblings, least of all Amenadiel, but he couldn't deny that part of him felt bad for causing his brother more undue stress no matter how ornery the fool was.

"Instead of collaborating with him to cause him more harm, try listening to him." Linda said and she almost sounded like she was pleading with him. "He needs his brother. Not the Devil."

"But I am the Devil." Lucifer stated and Linda tilted her head to narrow her eyes.

"Are you, though?" She asked and Lucifer went to argue but she continued before he could. "You quit. You left Hell. You abandoned that role. Now look at you. No more burn scars, no fire in your eyes. You've got your wings back. You don't look like the Devil to me. You look like the angel of justice."

"Don't." Lucifer growled almost immediately. "Don't do that."

"Do what? Call you out?" Linda asked, her voice growing cold. "That's what you were, right? God's punisher? That was you job before you fell."

"That isn't who I am anymore." Lucifer said, his tone going darker.

"You could have fooled me." Linda smiled, though there was no humour to be found. "You run around with the LAPD finding bad guys and making sure that they get punished for their wickedness. That sounds like _Samael_ to me."

"THAT IS NOT MY NAME!" Lucifer roared, standing and unfurling his wings in his rage. He knocked a couple of pictures off the wall and sent the lamp on the left end table flying. To Linda's credit, she didn't even flinch. She just stared up at Lucifer with hard eyes, waiting.

After a few seconds, Lucifer realised how ridiculous and foolish he was behaving. Closing his eyes, he pulled his wings back and tucked them away with a roll of his shoulders.

"I'll purchase you a new lamp." He said, sounding embarrassingly small.

"I don't want a new lamp." Linda said. "I want you to stop lying to yourself."

"What?" Lucifer asked, still standing and looking down at her with a furrowed brow.

"I want you to stop pretending that you aren't the angel of light and justice." Linda said. "You'll always be that. Ruler of Hell or not. You are what you are. Look at how your father is treating you and Amenadiel. Amenadiel desperately wants to go back home and return to his place in Heaven and you want to get as far away from that life as possible. So what does your father do? He takes away everything Amenadiel values and pushes it on you. He's giving you both precisely the opposite of what you want."

"Because my father is a bastard." Lucifer grumbled softly.

"So why not embrace it?" Linda suggested, holding out her hands. "Be what he thinks you loath."

"I do loath it." Lucifer said and Linda shook her head.

"I don't think you do. If you didn't want to be what he made you to be, you wouldn't enjoy running around with Detective Decker all the time." Linda said and Lucifer couldn't fault her reasoning there.

"Speaking of the detective, we are in the middle of a case, so if you're done scolding me…" Lucifer said before fixing his jacket and heading for the door.

"Lucifer–" Linda stood to try and halt him, but was cut off.

"I'll send you a replacement lamp." Lucifer said before quickly vanishing out the door.

"Why is it, whenever we're getting somewhere, you run off?" Linda sighed before looking around her office and setting herself on the task of cleaning up the mess her most laborious client left behind.

* * *

 

Once Chloe watched Lucifer drive off to meet with Linda, she headed into the station to get to work on researching the history of their three victims. It probably would have been easier with Lucifer there, but she would be able to identify who fit both current and past relationships on her own just by names.

"So how bad did he screw up?" Came the voice of the desk sergeant as Chloe entered the building.

"Huh?" Chloe asked and the sergeant smiled.

"You're partner. How bad was the mistake?" The sergeant laughed and shook her head. "Must have been big to send you flowers in the middle of the day."

"Flowers?" Chloe asked before turning down the stairs to see that there were, in fact, a bouquet of plumerias, her favourite flower, in various colours sitting on her desk. "What the…?"

Walking to her desk, she reached out to check for a card. She plucked the paper out of the mess of greens to read it.

_"I worship you. Let's raise our garden here…"_ She read, and frowned. The card wasn't signed, but the script was eloquent enough to be recognisable.

"Damnit, Lucifer, what are you doing?" Chloe whispered to herself, her brows furrowed. She didn't have the patience for this. What with the flirting and the intrusions on her personal space and now sending her flowers? She really needed to talk to him about this. This was not okay. He'd missed his chance in a huge way and now it only served to make her angry when he pulled stunts like this.

"Wow. Plumerias. Someone must be in trouble." Dan said, holding two cups of coffee in his hand. It was clear he'd just come back from the crime scene and brought a coffee for her from the stand outside on his way in.

"Lucifer. Though maybe this was because I yelled at him the other day?" Chloe groaned before plopping down in her chair. "I mean, really? He needs to tone it down or I might shoot him again."

"Not that I don't disagree with the tone it down part, I don't think he deserves to be shot again." Dan grinned. "He's just trying to apologise for whatever he did. He just doesn't like it when you're angry with him, so he sent you flowers. You gatta at least give him points for sending plumerias."

"No, Dan. He's not allowed to do this anymore." Chloe sighed, handing Dan the card. "He can't keep being all sweet and dedicated when it suits him."

"So, it's not over, then?" Dan asked as he read the card before putting it on Chloe's desk next to the vase of flowers.

"Of course it's over. It never really started." Chloe frowned. "Which makes this note borderline creepy."

"You have a point there." Dan said, placing a coffee next to Chloe before taking a sip of his own.

"I mean, I don't even remember telling him what my favourite flower is." Chloe said. "And he's been acting really weird lately. Invading my personal space more than usual, agreeing with me all the time, complimenting me…now this?"

"So talk to him about it." Dan shrugged. "You know how much he likes honesty."

"Oh, I'm totally going to talk to him about it." Chloe said before shifting the flowers off to the side of her desk. She was tempted to bin them, but they _were_ her favourite and she knew how expensive they could be. Well, at least Lucifer felt bad enough to send her flowers. She was glad she apologised for her behaviour over his interactions with Victoria Kate. Maybe this was his way of telling her that she was still number one in his book? Yeah, she definitely needed to talk to him about this.

* * *

 

"Protek Prolube!" Ella exclaimed as she got closer to Chloe's desk. "Nice flowers."

"Um, kind of a private thing to be announcing there, Ella." Chloe chuckled. She'd been staring at endless photos of Victoria Kate, Kelly Curtis, and Graham Kent in various society blogs. Not once did she recognise someone she knew. Except Lisa, now that she knew what she looked like, but Lisa was generally in the background and doing something business-related.

"No, dude. It's not _that_ kind of lube." Ella laughed before waving the papers in her hand. "It's the substance on the fake suicide notes that I couldn't identify before. Protek Prolube. It's a spray lubricant used on key beds."

"Key beds?" Chloe prompted and Ella smiled.

"Yeah. Like on pianos. It's used it to keep the keys lubricated so that they don't stick." Ella said and handed the data sheet to Chloe. "It's really popular with avid pianists. I've already got a request out to the manufacturer to send us a list of online clients and store front distributors in the LA area."

"Good work. Maybe that will give us a lead." Chloe nodded before gesturing to her computer. "Because _this_ has been absolutely no help."

"That would be good because it seemed like most of the time, these people kept to themselves unless it was at some famous person party." Dan supplied as he came around the corner to join the discussion, pulling out his notebook to go over what he'd found through his last two hours of phone calls. "Apparently Miss McDonough had little to offer regarding Kelly Curtis's plans for the weekend and none of his neighbours saw anything unusual. Nor the cleaning staff or any of Curtis's fellow employees. I got nothin'."

"Well, look at you sorry lot." Came Lucifer's boisterous voice from the stairs as he approached Chloe's desk. "You all have faces like a wet weekend. Oh, lovely flowers."

"Thanks." Chloe frowned and Lucifer beamed.

"You're more than welcome, so," Lucifer said, clapping his hands together. "What have I missed?"

"A whole lot of nothing. We've got no leads." Dan supplied.

"Oh! Except for the lube!" Ella exclaimed and Lucifer's grin turned salacious.

"Lube? Do tell." He said and Chloe groaned softly.

"Protek Prolube. It was on all the fake notes." Ella said.

"Oh. So not as fun as I originally imagined. Pity." Lucifer said with a frown but quickly replaced it with a smile. "So, piano lubricant. What does that have to do with our victims?"

"Wait, how'd you know that?" Dan asked and Lucifer scoffed.

"How do I, the owner of LA's premier _piano_ _bar_ , know what _piano lubricant_ is?" Lucifer asked, raising a brow. "Honestly, Daniel, sometimes I question how you became a detective in the first place."

Chloe had to swallow her giggle and turn her face away to school her features. Laughing at Lucifer's jokes was not going to help the conversation she had to have with him about going overboard when it came to the flirting.

"Whatever, man." Dan said, clearly offended.

"Back to the matter at hand, though." Lucifer prompted, moving around Chloe's desk to stand beside her. "What does it have to do with them? None of them had a piano. At least, Vicki didn't and I didn't see one in Curtis's home either."

"No piano in Kent's house." Ella supplied with a shake of her head.

"So it's a solid clue. Our killer is a pianist." Lucifer said, smiling.

"Yup. A six-foot-three pianist with a connection to all of our victims." Ella said.

Suddenly, the air grew very tense as everyone's eyes slowly panned up to Lucifer. It took him a moment, but he eventually followed everyone's train of thought.

"Oh, come on! Seriously?!" Lucifer exclaimed with a dramatic roll of his eyes. "I suppose I should point out that I didn't actually kill anyone?"

"You do fit the profile, dude." Dan said, though he was smiling.

"I'm sure plenty of people in LA do, but I'm certain that I'll be able to supply a solid alibi for whenever Miss Lopez determined time of death. I was busy last weekend. Many witnesses and such." Lucifer said, alluding in his usual debauched state.

"No one is accusing you, Lucifer." Chloe said, shaking her head while smiling softly. "Though it is nice to see you squirm."

"Not nice for me." Lucifer griped, but Chloe waved her hand and gestured for him to sit.

"Oh, grow a pair. Sit down and help me go through all these photos." Chloe chuckled and Lucifer actually did sit down and start looking at her computer screen.

"I have a delectably nice _pair_ , thank you very much." Lucifer said, but his usual flirtatious tone was buried beneath his grumble.

Dan gave Chloe a look before waggling his eyebrows at her. Chloe sighed and shook her head as she watched Dan scurry off with Ella, probably to explain the flowers to her.

"So what am I looking for?" Lucifer prompted, recalling Chloe's focus to him. He was seated closer, having shifted his chair in behind her desk as opposed to it's usual place off to the side.

"Uh… connections. Any other people you know the names of that I might not recognise from face alone." Chloe said, pulling up the site she'd been looking at before Ella had interrupted.

"Right. And why the plumerias?" Lucifer asked, smirking softly. "Did someone anger you that much. Maybe that terrible date Maze told me about?"

"No, you… wait…" Chloe paused. Was Lucifer joking? "You sent them."

"No." Lucifer said, shaking his head. "I didn't."

"Uh…" Chloe suddenly felt strange. Lucifer didn't lie. Well, not about stuff like this, anyway. The whole _Devil_ thing was another matter, but he never lied about simple stuff like this. "Yes you did. Look. Maybe you forgot?"

She gave Lucifer the card and he nearly snatched it from her fingers to read.

"Detective, if I wanted to tell you I worship you, I'd do it to your face." Lucifer said before turning his focus on her. "I did not send these."

"You… really?" Chloe asked, her face growing hot with the way Lucifer spoke to her. He said the words with such conviction that she might actually be convinced that he _did_ worship her… which was weird, right?

"Naturally. I wouldn't lie about something so frivolous." Lucifer said before his eyes tracked back to the card. "Which is odd because this is my handwriting. Well, close to it at any rate."

"Its… oh god…" Chloe said before snatching the card from Lucifer's hand, careful to grip it by the corners and nearly flew toward the lab where Dan and Ella were still chatting.

"Detective?" Lucifer called after her, standing to follow as she barrelled her way into the room, nearly knocking Dan over in the process.

"Lucifer didn't send the flowers." She declared, holding up the card as if in victory.

"I most certainly did not, but I don't follow why you had to run off like your knickers were on fire." Lucifer grumped, straightening his cufflinks.

"Okay. So…?" Dan asked, his eyebrows raised.

"But the card is in his handwriting." Chloe said, her voice turning serious.

"Wait, you don't think that the killer sent you those flowers, do you?" Lucifer asked before his curious frown turned into a smile. "And he's trying to pin the killings on me? Oh, clever. Very clever."

"Ooh! Gimmie!" Ella exclaimed, pulling on gloves and quickly taking the card from Chloe. "If it was the guy, the formula for the lubricant will be the same."

Ella then looked at Lucifer and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"And, just to be safe, maybe we can have an officer pick up whatever piano lube you have to make sure it's not from the same bottle?" Ella said and Lucifer nodded quickly.

"Of course, Miss Lopez." He supplied before smiling st Chloe. "I wouldn't want to be framed yet again by someone trying to act on my behalf."

"While Ella is working on that, I'll check the security footage to see what company delivered the flowers." Dan said before heading out to do just that.

"Now this is getting interesting." Lucifer said, bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. "This means the killer has been watching us. How kinky."

"Lucifer, seriously, not now." Chloe said, thinking that her eyes might get stuck looking at her brain if she kept rolling them so much.

* * *

 

It took a couple of hours, but Ella was finally able to confirm that the same lubricant was on the card that was attached to the flowers Chloe received. Those flowers were now in the lab as well, being tested for prints and any other trace evidence that might lead to their killer.

Dan had also arrived with footage from the delivery. Unfortunately, there was no way to identify the deliveryman because an officer had signed for it outside and carried it inside to the desk sergeant. Dan talked to the cop, but he couldn't remember much about what the delivery man looked like.

Basically, they were at a loss. When they told Lieutenant Pierce about their findings, he wanted to take Chloe off the case, citing danger to her personal safety. Lucifer had agreed with Chloe, thinking that it best that they stay the course since the killer was clearly already trying to appease her.

"I'm not going to put my top detective in the line of fire on a hunch." Pierce said, eyeing Lucifer. 

"Oh, don't look at me like that." Lucifer said, his hostility a bit more on display which made Chloe think that perhaps the Lieutenant and Lucifer had a bone to pick with each other that she wasn't aware of. "It's better to have the cretan focussed on us than some other poor hapless fool. At least we know what we're doing."

"Lucifer is right. If it's someone from my past, I'll be able to identify them faster." Chloe chimed in, glad that Lucifer was agreeing with her.

"I'm going to have unis posted at your home." Pierce said and before Chloe could protest, he held up a hand. "No, Decker. That's final. Unless you want to bunk with Lucifer until the case is closed."

"I'd be more than amenable, detective." Lucifer said, his voice turning into that irritating purr that he liked to use when flirting. 

"Uh, no. Unis are fine." Chloe said, giving Lucifer a glare. "But I'll have Dan take Trixie for the weekend, just to be safe."

"Probably the best course of action." Pierce nodded. "Now, if you insist on being the target, I want you both to stick with each other at all times. No going off alone."

"Understood." Chloe said and Lucifer sighed.

"All times? I mean, we're approaching the weekend." Lucifer said before quickly backpedaling. "Not that I wouldn't enjoy your company at Lux while I conduct my business."

"Oh, right." Chloe nodded. She sometimes forgot that Lucifer had a club to run. "I guess I could hang around Lux a bit this weekend."

"That won't be necessary. Lucifer can go run his business while we have unis watching your apartment." Pierce said. "But when you're away from the station or your homes, I want you two to stay together."

"Yeah. Okay. Makes sense." Chloe said, nodding in agreement.

"Well then, it seems like we have a plan." Lucifer smiled and Chloe felt like there was something she was missing. Lucifer seemed a bit too cheery about the whole arrangement.

"Alright. Get to it." Pierce said, waving to the door. "Go find that serial killer."

As Chloe and Lucifer made their way out of the office, Lucifer reached out to tap Chloe on the shoulder.

"Are you alright?" He asked with genuine concern on his face. "Stalkers are… well… terrible, honestly. Are you sure you don't want to stay with me for the weekend?"

"Lucifer–" Chloe began, but Lucifer quickly talked over her.

"No expectations or untoward advances. You have my word." He said, holding up his hands in defence. "I'd just rather not have you alone at home like a sitting duck."

Chloe thought about that for a moment. Lucifer seemed to be honestly worried and that was actually really nice of him. And his usual lecherous grin was completely gone.

"I don't feel comfortable staying with you." Chloe blurted and then blushed deeply. "No, no. I don't mean it like that."

"You don't?" Lucifer asked and Chloe shook her head.

"You're door is always open and I'd feel weird if a Brittney wandered in or something." Chloe said and Lucifer gave her a small nod.

"I understand." He said before giving her a small smile. "I could always stay with you. I know Maze if off on some hunt and she may not be back by the weekend."

"I don't know. I'm a cop. I can take care of myself. Plus, I'll have backup officers outside." Chloe said, looking down at the floor. She wasn't sure if was a good idea at all.

"I could sleep on the sofa." Lucifer said and that caught Chloe's attention. She smiled up at him, her grin incredulous.

"Seriously? Mr. Prada will sleep on a couch?" She asked and Lucifer had the gall to look offended.

"I once lived in Heaven. A sofa doesn't scare me." Lucifer huffed. "Technically, I've been _roughing it_ for millennia."

"Riiiight." Chloe laughed, shaking her head. "You know what, fine. Pyjama party at my house this weekend. And I have a rule."

"Oh?" Lucifer asked, smiling down at her. "And what rule is that?"

"You have to bring proper pyjamas. No silk two pieces and fancy dressing gowns. Real, down-to-earth pjs."

"Um, I don't actually think I own that sort of attire." Lucifer said, suddenly looking concerned.

"Well, you've got a few days to find some." Chloe said, her stomach doing odd little flips. Was Lucifer seriously going to follow the rules and let his hair down for the weekend?

"Alright. Yes. You've got a deal, detective." Lucifer said with a firm nod. "Proper sleepwear for a pyjama party it is."

"I'll send you home if you don't follow the rules." Chloe stated, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, I better start searching. But first, let's go over those blogs you were looking at." Lucifer said, his smile something softer than Chloe was used to.

"Yeah. Let's get to work." Chloe nodded and lead the way to her desk.


	5. Beautiful

When Friday finally came, Lucifer had texted Chloe to let her know that he was going to arrive at 11PM. He had business to attend to and wanted to make sure that his club was up and running properly for the weekend before he took time off. Chloe understood. It was his business. He couldn't be a police consultant all the time.

Of course, that didn't stop her from nervously pacing her apartment, in her pyjamas, waiting for him to arrive. She'd peeked out the window to check to see if the cruiser was still there three times before groaning to herself and pouring a glass of wine. She was acting silly. She knew she was acting silly. She was a cop, for god's sake. So why was she so freaked out?

Lucifer had made a point as they went through the blogs earlier that week. He'd mentioned how stalkers were always rather creepy and had a tendency to make their victims feel helpless because they couldn't prevent their stalker from observing them while going unnoticed. Perhaps that was what had freaked Chloe out the most? She knew someone was watching her, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.

There was a knock on the door and Chloe practically jumped out of her skin and nearly dropped her wine glass. Looking over at the clock, she decided that it had to be Lucifer. Walking to the door, she opened it to find–

"Holy crap." She blurted and Lucifer frowned at her.

"Not exactly the reaction I was expecting." He said, tilting his head. Chloe couldn't help it. She was genuinely shocked. Gone was the three-piece bespoke suit and instead was a pair of flannel pyjama bottoms and a grey hoodie. "Is my wardrobe up to snuff?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm just… surprised, I guess." Chloe said, moving away from the door so that Lucifer could enter. He held a plastic bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. Judging from the smell, the bag contained Mexican food. "Did you bring tacos?"

"Burritos, actually. From the new Javier's." Lucifer grinned, holding up the bag so that she could take it and inspect the contents. "Junior sends his regards."

"He really rebuilt, huh? Well, I'm looking forward to finally trying his food. Now that I know it's not poisoned." Chloe said, shutting and locking the door.

"Full vegetarian menu and it's absolutely delightful." Lucifer said, heading to the kitchen to start digging around for the corkscrew. "I'll have to take you there for a proper dinner sometime."

The way Lucifer spoke was casual, not a hint of his usual insinuations. As unusual as that was, it was really nice. It felt like how they used to interact before things got complicated. Chloe quickly shook her head, deciding to focus on the here and now.

"So, have you ever attended a pyjama party?" Chloe asked, walking over to join Lucifer in the kitchen and pull down some plates for their burritos.

"Not one this demur." Lucifer said and his naughty grin was back on his face as he worked the corkscrew into the top of the wine he bought.

"Yeah, there won't be any pillow fights in our underwear, thanks." Chloe groaned and Lucifer chuckled, his tone returning to easy-going again.

"Pity." He said, popping the cork free and setting the bottle on the counter to breathe. "Though I do look forward to seeing what you've got planned."

"Well, food and wine is good. We can go over the case some more. Maybe watch a movie or something. It's really pretty laid back." Chloe explained.

"Sounds delightful." Lucifer said without a hint of sarcasm, like he genuinely believed that he was going to have a good time.

"Come on. Be honest. You know you'd rather be partying it up with the Brittneys at Lux." Chloe said, placing the burritos, still in their foil wrappings, onto the paper plates she'd grabbed from the cupboard.

"I beg to differ." Lucifer said, now searching for another wine glass and letting out a huff of victory when he found it. "I can't think of anything more enjoyable than spending the weekend with my favourite detective."

"Oh, well if you want me to call Dan…" Chloe giggled and Lucifer matched her smile.

"Cute." He commented before filling his glass from the bottle of wine Chloe had already broken into. "Seriously, though, I'm glad we get to spend some time together. Things have been… difficult between us as of late and I'd like to remedy that."

"Yeah, I know." Chloe sighed, running a hand through her hair as the conversation turned serious. "But maybe we can hold off on that talk until we've had a bit more wine? I think I'll need it."

"Your wish is my command, detective." Lucifer said, giving Chloe a warm smile and clinking his glass against hers. "Let's eat."

Chloe felt her nerves settle a bit at that and she gratefully took the out as she handed Lucifer his plate and led him to the sofa where they parked themselves to dig into the delicious food.

* * *

 

"Oh, that is utterly atrocious!" Lucifer crowed, covering his face in disgust.

Chloe was in a continuous fit of giggles.

"That's the whole point of the show, Lucifer." She said as she poured herself another glass of wine. They had long moved on to Lucifer's more expensive bottle. "It's supposed to be a nightmare."

"But who cooks tamales weeks in advance!? That just horrible." Lucifer moaned before turning his eyes back to the television screen. He and Chloe had found themselves nestled on the sofa, eating their dinner and drinking their wine while Chloe had pulled up her Hulu account to watch _Kitchen Nightmares_. Lucifer was absolutely horrified through the entire process.

"And these people! They are all vile." Lucifer pointed out. "I mean, they have a Michelin Star chef trying to show them the ropes and all they do is complain. Ludicrous. Honestly!"

Chloe laughed even harder and shook her head.

"You would do better, yeah?" She asked and Lucifer scoffed.

"If I'd opened a restaurant, it would receive top marks." Lucifer said with pride, puffing out his chest a bit before downing the rest of his wine. "I'm an excellent chef."

"So you claim." Chloe said, reaching over to poke Lucifer into giving her his glass for her to refill.

"Well, if you'd let me cook for you properly, I'll prove it to you." Lucifer said, retrieving the wine and then clinking his glass against the detective's. "No one has ever been displeased with what I put in their mouths."

The innuendo was clear and Chloe groaned and rolled her eyes, thought there was no real malice there. They had honestly been having a lovely, normal night together and it was so rare that she wasn't going to let a bit of Lucifer's _Luciferness_ ruin the moment.

He looked so relaxed now. Lucifer's hair was a bit mussed, his curls trying to free themselves from his usual quaff. His cheeks were slightly pink from the wine and his laugh was far more forthcoming as of late, especially when the chef on screen made a particularly nasty dig.

"Seriously, detective. Let me make you dinner this weekend. We'll be spending some more time together, why not?" Lucifer said, turning to redirect his focus on Chloe instead of the television. "What is your favourite meal?"

"Oh… hmm. I don't know. I think I prefer my dad's Hawaiian bread sandwiches." Chloe shrugged and Lucifer shook his head.

"No, no. You're nostalgia blind there. You've got to have something that you've always loved but could rarely have because you couldn't make time to make it yourself or it was too expensive. Something special." Lucifer said, waving his wine glass slightly. "Something unique."

"Well… uhh… I guess I was always a meat and potatoes type of girl." Chloe shrugged. "Whenever my parents celebrated something, my dad would take my mom out to a steak dinner. That was a big deal for them, I guess."

"Well, that is a lovely place to start." Lucifer grinned, sipping from his glass again and smiling brightly. "I shall look up a few recipes and see what I can find."

"No, Lucifer, that won't be necessary. Really." Chloe said, shaking her head but Lucifer was clearly not having it.

"Now, now, detective. Let us have a lovely night in where I do all the cooking and you don't need to lift a finger." Lucifer said, giving Chloe a warm, much more genuine smile. "Treat yourself for once."

"Fine." Chloe said with a heavy sigh. "But if I'm not lifting a finger, that means that you have to do the dishes as well."

Lucifer tilted his head in thought for a moment before he nodded.

"Deal. I'll take care of everything." Lucifer said. "All you need to do is be here prepared to eat a delicious meal."

"I think I can do that." Chloe said, smiling at Lucifer before tipping her glass and taking another sip.

* * *

 

Once the wine was finished and Lucifer had declared that he absolutely _must_ meet Chef Ramsay, they cleaned up and Chloe went to the linen closet to grab a spare pillow and some blankets for the sofa. She was worried that Lucifer would try to make a fuss and weasel his way into her bed, but he maintain his promise and did nothing of the sort. He casually flopped down onto the couch and bid her goodnight as she made her way to her room. All in all, it had been a really pleasant evening and it took Chloe's mind completely off the potential stalker watching her every move.

She washed her face, pulled her hair into a braid, and crawled into bed with the a warm feeling in her belly. The wine had certainly helped loosen her up and it wasn't long before she'd drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Around 3AM, Chloe was woken by a loud crash outside her window. She shot up with wide eyes, peering through the darkness.

"Lucifer?" She whispered softly, her mind reminding her that her partner was only one room over on the couch. "Is that you?"

After a few minutes of no response, Chloe slowly crept out of her bed towards the window. Her instincts told her not to look out. She should wake Lucifer. Sighing softly, she fetched her gun from the lockbox under her bed and tiptoed through her door to the living area where she found a rumpled Lucifer curled rather uncomfortably on the sofa. It was an odd image, given his tall frame, but he looked perfectly peaceful. Almost youthful. She felt bad for having to wake him.

"Lucifer?" Chloe whispered, reaching out to touch her partner's shoulder. "Lucifer, wake up."

Lucifer let out a soft, undeniably adorable snuffle before his eyes fluttered open. He looked momentarily unfocussed before his gaze flickered up to Chloe and his expression turned concerned.

"Are you alright, detective?" He asked in a deep, sleep-gravelled voice.

"I heard a crash outside. I figured we should check it out." She said, keeping his voice low.

Lucifer didn't respond and instead nodded before shuffling out of the blankets he'd cocooned himself in to stand and wait for her instructions. Chloe handed Lucifer her flashlight and tilted her head towards the back door. The two of them moved slowly to the back of the apartment to open the slider that led out to the back porch. Lucifer remained behind Chloe while she kept her gun at the ready. Stepping carefully around the corner, Lucifer shone the torch at Chloe's bedroom window before trailing the beam down to the ground.

"I believe we found the culprit." Lucifer said, a small bit of mirth working into his tone. A large tree branch had come loose and must have hit the detective's window on the way down.

"Jesus Christ." Chloe breathed out, closing her eyes in frustration. "This is getting stupid."

"Nonsense, detective. You heard a noise. We investigated it. It turned out to be nothing." Lucifer said, though he wasn't really whispering anymore. "No harm, no foul. It's better to be safe than sorry, correct?"

"Yeah, I know." Chloe groaned as she turned to lead Lucifer back into the apartment. "I just feel silly for jumping at anything that goes bump in the night. I'm a freaking police officer."

"And a damn good one." Lucifer nodded. "You're just being cautious. There's nothing wrong with that."

Once the door was shut, Chloe made her way to the kitchen. She put down her gun and opened the fridge to pull out a bottle of water to drink.

"I shouldn't have woken you up." Chloe said after she took a few gulps. "I'm sorry."

"Detective, it's not a big deal." Lucifer said, shoving his hands into the front pocket of the hoodie he was still wearing. "It's why I'm hear, right? To back you up in case the killer gets too daring?"

"But it wasn't a killer. It was a tree." Chloe sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"So? It frightened you. That's all that matters." Lucifer said, leaning against the island in the centre of the kitchen. "I'm glad you woke me. I wouldn't want to be asleep while you're afraid."

Chloe didn't have a response to that. The words were achingly genuine and she was sure that Lucifer wasn't even remotely annoyed over being woken up for nothing. He meant every word.

"T-thank you." Chloe finally said, giving Lucifer a small smile.

"That's what partners are for, correct?" Lucifer asked, reaching over to take the bottle of water from Chloe to steal a sip for himself. "To have each other's backs, no matter how trivial?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." Chloe smiled and Lucifer grinned back in return.

"Then that's settled. Now, back to sleep you go. You need all your strength to hunt down this angsty weirdo. " Lucifer said, handing Chloe back her water.

"Okay." Chloe laughed, looking down to see that Lucifer had nearly finished half the water bottle. She bring it to bed with her, then. "Goodnight, Lucifer."

"Sweet dreams, detective." Lucifer said and headed back to the sofa to rearrange his blanket nest.

Chloe paused at her bedroom door to watch Lucifer fix the blankets on the sofa. She turned her head to look into her dark, empty bedroom and let out a small sigh. She was still wired. She still felt a little too on edge. She wasn't sure she could sleep now.

"Detective?" Lucifer's voice brought Chloe's attention back to him as he stood there holding a pillow in one hand and a blanket in the other. He looked concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Chloe said a bit too quickly before returning her gaze to her room. She didn't feel safe in there anymore. She didn't want to be alone. "I just… I guess the branch freaked me out more than I thought."

"Do you wish to stay out here for a bit longer?" Lucifer suggested. "Maybe finish your water? We could watch more of that Nightmare Kitchen show. There's nothing funnier that watching people try to pass off liverwurst slices as proper paté."

Chloe felt her heart warm at Lucifer's words. He was trying to comfort her and that was really kind of him. It wasn't something that he normally did, nor did he do well. He probably didn't even realise he was doing it, actually.

"No, no… We need to sleep." Chloe said, shaking her head. Of course, Lucifer didn't _have_ _to_ sleep on the sofa. It wouldn't be too difficult to share her bed with him. Not in the way he'd have liked, but just… to have him there? "I don't suppose the sofa is very comfortable for you, is it?"

Lucifer blinked at Chloe for a few more moments before something clicked. His eyes went from curious and confused to warm and open in a way that Chloe barely recognised.

"It's alright to say you don't want to be alone." Lucifer said, his voice soft and soothing. "Everyone gets scared sometimes."  


"Lucifer…" Chloe sighed, but she didn't have an answer for him. She couldn't ask. It would sound too childish.

"Say no more, detective." Lucifer said, dropping the blanket and pillow and confidently striding up to her and the door of her bedroom. "Anyway, the sofa is much too small for me and I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving you alone after you've had a proper fright."

Chloe looked up at Lucifer but didn't protest as he slid past her and into her room to turn down the covers of her bed.

"Come along, detective. I'm getting exhausted just looking at you." Lucifer said and just like that, he climbed into her bed. There was no leer, no suggestive comment, no waggle of brows. He just curled up on his side and closed his eyes.

Chloe stood in the doorway for far too long processing what had just happened and then decided, _you know what? To hell with it!_ She strode over to her bed, placed the water bottle on the nightstand and then crawled in under the covers beside Lucifer. They weren't touching at all, but she could just faintly feel the heat of him. Another body. Another person to help keep her safe. She really didn't want to be alone and Lucifer was giving her what she needed.

"You're a good partner, Lucifer." Chloe whispered into the darkness. For a moment, she thought that he'd nodded off, but she was then met by soft, sleepy words.

"I learned from the best."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff, Fluff, Fluff... enjoy!


	6. Freeze Your Brain

Chloe was hot. Not that Lucifer hadn't told her so on many occasions, but that wasn't what she meant. She was physically warm and felt like she was sleeping in an oven. Her hands moved only to find that one was beneath her pillow and the other was trapped beneath another arm. Another arm? Sliding her hand free, she let her palm trace over the forearm that was wrapped around her centre. Then it hit her.

"Lucifer?" She whispered and felt a huff of breath on the back of her neck. Good lord, they were spooning. She could feel Lucifer's chest pressed against her back and she shimmied to realise that one of his legs was tucked between her own. It was really intimate and yet, innocent. The more she listened, the more she realised that Lucifer was still snoring softly, making small little huffs through his nose, completely asleep. She couldn't fault him, really. He was used to having bedmates and probably snuggled a great deal with them. Right?

No. That didn't seem like Lucifer. He gave the impression of a man who was a wham, bam, thank you ma'am.. or sir... type of person. Have the big fun and then send everyone on their merry way. He would never be rude about it, of course, but he would probably want them out and away as soon as possible. Except for the _frequent flyers,_ as he liked to call them. Frequent flyers… like Victoria Kate.

Did Lucifer cuddle Victoria? Chloe didn't like the image her imagination provided. Not at all. He probably did. He probably took care of her and made her breakfast before escorting her out of his penthouse. Lucifer may be a playboy, but he was still a gentleman.

"Lucifer? Hey?" Chloe said, blinking in the darkness. Lucifer must have drawn the curtains because she couldn't see a thing. "You're like sharing a bed with a space heater. Can you roll over?"

No response.

Chloe sighed and reached up to at least try and take off the blankets covering them. Her hand yanked at something warm, soft, and feathery, but before she could remember if she'd had her down comforter on her bed, Lucifer let out a rather undignified yelp and the heat was gone, both from on top of her and under the covers. There was a soft fluttering sound and a clattering of noise as Lucifer nearly flung himself out of the bed and crashed down on the floor, taking a few items from the nightstand with him.

"Bloody hell…" Lucifer whimpered.

"Oh my god, are you alright?" Chloe asked, scrambling to turn on the light to find Lucifer sitting on the floor rubbing his shoulder absently. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Wrong deity, and yes. Yes, I'm fine." Lucifer grumbled. He didn't seem like he was alright. He seemed angry.

"I didn't hit you, did I? I tried to wake you." Chloe said, leaning over the edge of the bed to look at her fallen partner with concern. Lucifer looked up at her and all of his irritation melted away. He gave her a warm smile and then reached out to pat whichever one of her hands was closest.

"It's not your fault, darling. I believe I just got too comfortable in my sleep." Lucifer said with a small shrug. "Entirely my doing. And I should offer my apologies. I meant to keep to my side of the bed."

"Oh." Chloe said, feeling guilty now. "No, that was okay. We were sleeping. It was nice to know someone was there."

Once the words were out of her mouth, Chloe could feel her cheeks begin to burn.

"You know, because of last night. In case something happened." She said, trying to recover. "I mean, it's not that I miss having someone there… that's not what I meant… I mean…"

Lucifer began to chuckle while Chloe rambled and he eventually stood. It was then that she realised he must have taken off the hoodie because all he wore was a simple black t-shirt and his flannel pyjama bottoms.

"No harm done, detective. We were supposed to stick together and we did so." Lucifer smiled, straightening himself up to his full height and brushing himself off. "How about brekkie? Bacon and waffles? As long as you've got the ingredients, of course."

"That sounds perfect." Chloe nodded, relieved that Lucifer was going to let the moment go.

* * *

 

Breakfast was a delightful affair and, from what Chloe could gather, a preview of what Lucifer had promised when it came to his cooking skills. He'd cut up fruit and fried some bacon and made the waffle batter from scratch. Everything was delicious. Even his coffee was perfect. Of course, this didn't help keep Chloe's mind from wandering into the realms of _what if_ regarding Lucifer as a more permanent fixture in her personal life. She had been so good at tramping down those feelings, but when he was being so gracious and kind and genuinely enjoyable to be around, it made pushing away those thoughts of domestic bliss even more difficult. Not to mention being faced with Lucifer being all those things while he was in his pyjamas and looking like an adorably rumpled mess.

"Why don't you wear your hair curly?" Chloe asked after she swallowed a bite of cinnamon and sugar apple.

"What?" Lucifer responded, plating out the last of the bacon and waffles before joining her at the table.

"You're hair. It's curly." Chloe said before realising how stupid that statement was.

"Annoyingly so. You have no idea how much product it takes to keep it in line." Lucifer grumbled before taking his seat across from her. "You should have seen it when I was younger. Absolutely horrid. Riotous. It's why I keep it so short now."

"It's cute." Chloe said and tried not to bite her tongue. _Seriously, Decker? Cute?_

"I… thank you?" Lucifer said before his smile broke into a chuckle. "I don't think I've ever been called cute before. Sexy, sinful, devilish… but cute… not so much. I suppose there is a first time for everything, even for me."

Chloe was thankfully saved by a knock on the door. She gratefully got up to answer it to find a uniformed officer on the other side.

"Officer, everything alright?" Chloe asked and the uni nodded.

"Yes, Detective. We're just letting you know that we're coming on shift. And our replacements will arrive tonight at 6PM." The officer said and Chloe nodded.

"Thank you, if you guys want, you can come in for coffee." Chloe said, knowing that it was a crap job to babysit a fellow officer. It was boring and there was little to do but read and eat.

"Oh, thank you, Detective. I'll let my partner know." The man said before turning to bustle off.

"Do we have food left? Maybe they'd like some." Chloe said, turning away from the door to smile at Lucifer.

"More than plenty, detective. I'll fry up the rest of the bacon and use the remainder of the batter." Lucifer said, his grin just as bright as hers. It was clear that he was more than happy to entertain the other officers watching over them for the weekend.

"I'll fire up the coffee maker." Chloe said before getting to it.

* * *

 

Between Chloe's fresh coffee and Lucifer's cooking, they had made two new friends in the precinct that morning. The police officers charged with watching Chloe's home were more than happy to go the extra mile now that they had been treated as guests instead of servants. To Chloe, they were always teammates. There may well come a day when she would need to have one of these men's backs in a shootout and this was a way of offering camaraderie.

After the two officers headed back to their car, Lucifer clapped his hands together and smiled.

"So, what is on the docket for today, detective?" He asked, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Well, I have to go grocery shopping. I don't know how fun you'll find that." Chloe said. "I'm sure you have to check in on Lux, right?"

"Nonsense." Lucifer said, waving his hand in dismissal. "I've made sure Patrick is fully capable of picking up the slack I leave behind this weekend. Plus, if you're to fetch the groceries, I shall come along to pick out the things we will need for dinner tonight."

"Oh, right." Chloe said, blushing a bit. She'd forgotten about that. The steak dinner. "Okay. Well, I'm going to go take a shower and get dressed. Why don't you head home to change and I'll wait for you to get back?"

"Works for me." Lucifer grinned, and turned to leave, only to pause at the door. "Detective, would you find me presumptuous in saying that I've packed a bag for the weekend. It's in the trunk of my car."

"Oh, really?" Chloe asked, her cheeks going a bit pink. "Right. Of course. Well, I'll get ready and you can have the shower when I'm done."

"Excellent." Lucifer smiled and headed out to door to fetch his things from his car.

"Lucifer is spending the entire weekend at my house. I can hear Dan laughing from here." Chloe grumbled to herself before trodding off to the bathroom to take her shower.

She'd managed to sneak by in a towel once she was finished. Lucifer was too busy going through his bag to notice her. She heard the shower turn back on while she was getting dressed. That lead to thoughts of Lucifer in her shower and she immediately stopped herself from letting her mind wander down _that_ rabbit hole.

Once all was said and done, Chloe returned to the kitchen fully dressed to have herself another cup of coffee. She had nearly drank the whole cup by the time Lucifer finally left the bathroom. He was fully dressed. He'd clearly trimmed his stubble and gelled his hair to beat back those adorable curls, but his outfit was similar to the one he wore when he'd followed Dan around for the day. Plain blue jeans and a long-sleeve black t-shirt.

"You're looking dressed-down." Chloe smirked over the lip of her mug and Lucifer shook his head.

"Well, three-piece suits rarely coincide with food shopping and an afternoon in going over case files." Lucifer said, giving Chloe a quick wink. "And though I prefer the cut of a suit, I do own other clothes."

"So I see." Chloe laughed before placing her mug in the sink and grabbing her keys. "Ready to go?"

"Always." Lucifer grinned and Chloe rolled her eyes before heading to the door.

* * *

 

The rest of the day had been rather uneventful. Instead of going straight to the store, Lucifer had convinced Chloe to go to the boardwalk with him followed by lunch on the pier. It was a lovely afternoon where they just got to be friends for once. Now and then Lucifer would bring up being the Devil, but Chloe had learned long ago to just ignore it. He certainly wasn't the craziest person in her life and Lucifer thought he was the actual Devil. That said something about the people she had known.

After a quick stop at 7-11 where Lucifer insisted they end their afternoon with slushies, they'd finally arrived back to Chloe's apartment. They were immediately greeted by the two new officers on shift. Chloe was surprised that she'd spent the whole day out with her partner. A new shift meant that it was past six.

"Detective." The officer said, holding up an envelope. "This came while you were gone. There's no postage. We found it when we walked the perimeter. It was just lying on your doormat."

Chloe's stomach dropped as she looked at the envelope. It could be nothing. Maybe a note from a neighbour or something silly. Still, it was better not to take the chance.

"Do you have gloves on you?" She asked and the officer nodded and pulled out a pair from one of the pockets on his belt. Chloe handed her slushie to the officer before she quickly slipped the gloves on on and took the letter. "Just to be safe."

"Let us know if you need anything." The officer said and Chloe nodded, taking back her drink before sending them away.

"You think it might be nefarious? Maybe a note from our killer?" Lucifer asked, one arm still full of all the grocery bags while the other held his own frozen beverage.

"Possibly. Let's go in and read it." Chloe said and lead Lucifer inside. He placed the bags down by the sink and abandoned his slushie before turning to her with his eyes completely focussed on the letter.

"Well?" He asked and Chloe stood there, the letter in her gloved hands, waiting. She didn't know why, but she couldn't bring herself to open it. Was she afraid? There wasn't really a reason to be afraid. If this was from the killer, he wouldn't try to send her poison or something. He wanted her alive. He _worshiped_ her, right?

"Give it here." Lucifer said, grabbing Chloe's attention. He had found a pair of gloves, most likely from Chloe's kit in her work bag, and held out his hands. Slowly, he approached her and took the letter from her to open it himself. 

"Lucifer, I can–" 

"Say nothing of it, detective. Allow me." Lucifer said before sliding his finger beneath the seal of the envelope. He flipped it open to pull out the small notecard contained within.

"What does it say?" Chloe asked as she watched Lucifer's face. He read the note, but as he did, his face grew from mild curiosity to seething anger. Chloe knew that look. It was the look that Lucifer given Malcolm, The Spider, and any other person he'd deemed deserving of punishment. "Lucifer?"

"I'll hang him with his entrails…" Lucifer growled to himself, his eyes focussed solely on the letter in his hands. 

"Lucifer. What does it say?" Chloe asked again, her voice a bit more stern.

Lucifer looked up at her and the heat in his eyes increased tenfold. The way the light reflected off them, Chloe imagined that she'd seen his irises flicker red with rage.

"Nothin appropriate for you to read." Lucifer said. His voice was dark and cold and Chloe couldn't remember ever hearing him sound like that. Usually he roared or shouted when angry. This was far too cool and collected.

"Let me see." Chloe demanded and Lucifer held the card away.

"No." He said and Chloe put down her drink and reached out for the letter.

"Lucifer. Give it." Chloe said, holding her ground. Eventually, Lucifer conceded, handing Chloe the card.

"Don't let it effect you. It's nothing but lies." Lucifer said, the anger never leaving his voice or eyes.

_You betrayed me. You've become a Morningstar slut just like Victoria. For that you should be dead. But I'll forgive you for letting him between your thighs. They will all eventually disappear. Morningstar will be gone. I'll make sure of it. Our love is God._

"I'm not worried and you shouldn't be either." Lucifer said, breaking Chloe's attention from her sudden brain freeze that had nothing to do with the slushies they had been consuming.

"He threatened your life." Chloe said, unable to process it at all. The killer was after Lucifer next.

"He wouldn't be the first. I doubt he will be the last, either." Lucifer said with a shrug before switching his attitude completely and beaming at her with a bright grin. It was frightening how easily he did that. "So what if he snuck a letter past our guard dogs? I've got you to protect me."

Chloe shook her head and chuckled softly.

"I'm still going to call this in and get a car to bring this to the precinct. It's evidence." Chloe said and Lucifer waved a hand.

"Do what you must. I've got dinner to prepare." Lucifer said before bustling around the kitchen to put away the groceries and start on their supper.

Chloe was able to call Ella to come retrieve the letter. The tech had an investment in this case as much as she did. Ella's friends were in danger. Her and another tech showed up to process the area in front of Chloe's apartment before heading off with the letter in tow. Lucifer busied himself in the kitchen and gave Ella smile and wave when she popped in to say hello, but otherwise remained mostly to himself, focussed on his task.

"Did Miss Lopez offer any insights into the case?" Lucifer asked when Chloe shut and locked the door behind her.

"No, but she's going to head in and test the paper to see if it matches the last few notes." Chloe said, walking towards the kitchen area. "Maybe it will have that piano lubricant on it."

"I thought that was to frame me." Lucifer prompted, slicing vegetables with expert skill.

"I thought that, too, but now I think it's just a coincidence. Maybe he's just a piano player." Chloe shrugged before taking a seat at the island to watch Lucifer work.

"I doubt he's as good as me." Lucifer grinned as he added the vegetables to the pan he was cooking their steaks in.

"Of course not." Chloe smiled, actually really glad that Lucifer was being his prideful self. It helped calm her nerves.

"Well, never mind all that. Why don't you go ahead and set the table." Lucifer prompted, waving towards the cupboards. "Dinner is almost ready."

"You got it." Chloe grinned and moved to grab the plates and cutlery to put on the dining table.

It wasn't long before everything was set. Lucifer had popped open a bottle of red wine he'd purchased while they were out and directed Chloe to pour it as he brought the food to the table.

"Lucifer, this smells amazing." Chloe said, her eyes wide as Lucifer laid everything out.

"Fried steak with homemade béarnaise sauce." Lucifer said, placing the cut of meat on her plate and layering a small amount of sauce on top. "With herbed potatoes and mixed vegetables. Please, dig right in."

Chloe didn't need to be told twice. She cut the buttery steak easily enough and placed the first bite in her mouth. The meat practically melted on her tongue and she couldn't stop her hum of appreciation. When she looked up, she saw that Lucifer was watching her with great interest. He clearly wanted her opinion.

"It's delicious, Lucifer." She said, offering her partner a bright smile. "Seriously. Amazing. I knew you could cook, but this is unreal. You really could be a proper chef."

Lucifer chuckled as he set up his own plate before returning the used pan to the kitchen.

"No. I like to see my guests eat. I enjoy the pleasure I put on their faces." Lucifer said as he sat down to join Chloe at the table. "I wouldn't be able to do that locked away in a kitchen."

"No, I suppose not." Chloe said, not missing the innuendo in Lucifer's words. "Plus, I probably wouldn't be able to enjoy eating at a place you owned. It would be one of those expensive, high-end, five star places I wouldn't be able to afford."

"You would always have a free table in my restaurant, Chloe." Lucifer said and Chloe nearly choked at the use of her first name. He rarely used it. When he did, it meant something. When she looked up, she could see that his face was open again as he watched her eat. It was almost like he didn't realise she could see him or the expressions he was making.

"Well…" Chloe said, clearing her throat and gesturing to Lucifer's plate. "Eat. You've earned it."

Lucifer gave Chloe a small smile before digging into his own meal, his eyes only leaving his plate to glance up to watch his companion enjoy the food he'd prepared.

Dinner had been extravagant and wonderful and completely perfect. Chloe couldn't have asked for anything better to keep her mind off the trouble on the horizon. She joined Lucifer in the kitchen to do the dishes, even though that wasn't part of the deal, and they may or may not have gotten into a splash fight that resulted in both of them a bit too wet and nearly falling over in fits of giggles.

They both cleaned up and changed into pyjamas to continue their binge-watching of _Kitchen Nightmares_ while finishing the bottle of wine from dinner. Eventually, it came to the point where it was getting too late to make excuses. Chloe had already yawned twice and Lucifer had nodded off once.

"I think it's bed time." Chloe snorted as she poked Lucifer awake.

"I don't get it. Normally I can stay up for days." Lucifer said with a huff of indignation. "You must have more of an effect on me than I thought."

"Yeah, yeah." Chloe said, rolling her eyes and standing up. "How the mighty have fallen. Come on. We both need to sleep."

"Come… you mean… with you?" Lucifer asked, his eyes wide as Chloe stopped to watch him. 

"I mean, you don't have to." Chloe said, suddenly feeling incredibly self-conscious.

"I certainly don't mind. If you'd rather me be there." Lucifer said, standing and shifting from foot to foot. He seemed almost nervous which helped Chloe find her own resolve.

"I think it's best. If we're separated, I won't be able to look out for you." Chloe said, thinking that her logic was sound as she convinced herself that this was completely about protecting Lucifer. It had nothing to do with the fact that having Lucifer share her bed would help her feel a bit safer as well. Nothing at all.

"I suppose you're right. I am the one in danger now, after all." Lucifer said, slowly moving around the sofa to head towards Chloe's bedroom door. "Price on my head, so to speak."

"Exactly. I'd rather have you where I can keep an eye on you." Chloe nodded, giving Lucifer a small smile.

"As you wish, detective." Lucifer nodded. 

With that settled, the pair made their way into Chloe's room and proceeded just as they had the night before. Lucifer turned down the covers, removing the hoodie he'd replaced earlier when he'd changed. He tossed it into the chair by the window and climbed into the bed, laying on his back to occupy what Chloe's brain had far-too-easily deemed _his_ side of the bed. Chloe quickly followed suit, shimmying beneath the covers to lay on her side with her back towards her partner.

"Alright?" Lucifer asked as he flicked off the lamp on the nightstand and settled in.

"Yup. You?" Chloe asked, trying not to blush even though she knew she was safe from being seen in the darkness.

"Never better." Lucifer said and Chloe could hear the grin in his words.

"Goodnight, Lucifer." Chloe whispered.

"Goodnight, Chloe." Lucifer returned and Chloe couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Chloe woke to a strange noise outside her window. Her eyes shot open and she lifted her head only to realised that she had turned over in the night and wrapped herself around Lucifer's prone form. He was still on his back, sleeping soundly and she couldn't stop the smile forming on her lips. The moonlight coming through the window allowed her to see his features and he looked… content. At ease. She would have watched him longer if the scratching noise hadn't continued.

Carefully climbing out of bed so not to wake Lucifer, she padded around to head over to window. Looking out, she could see nothing but the broken tree branch on the ground and a few twigs that had apparently deigned to join their predecessor.

"I really need to tell the landlord about that tree." She whispered to herself with a yawn. No shadows in the night. Just a tree. It was getting annoying. Deciding not to wake Lucifer over something so silly, Chloe tiptoed out of her room to go fetch a bottle of water.

When her door closed, the scratching on the window returned.

"Detective?" Lucifer whispered sleepily, reaching over to check to see if Chloe was still there. When his hand found no purchase, he slowly opened his eyes just in time to see a shadow coming to loom over him. He made to cry out, but a cloth that smelled sickly sweet was pressed over his face and everything slowly faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun DUUUUUUN! Sorry about more fluff, but who doesn't enjoy a little Deckerstar fluff, huh? Just make sure you visit your dentist to be sure your teeth haven't rotted out. The last chapter will be up today. I just have to edit it. We're almost to the finale!


	7. I Worship You

Chloe entered the kitchen, opened the refrigerator to pull out a bottle of water, and cracked it open with practised ease. She took a few sips before shutting the door and turned back to head to her room. She let out a small squeak of surprise when she found someone standing there. It took a moment for her to realise it was one of the uniformed officers. The one who had found the letter on her doormat.

"Jesus Christ." She hissed in surprised, reaching up to press a hand to her heart. "What are you doing in here? You scared the crap out of me."

The officer gave Chloe a small smile and held up his hands in defence.

"Sorry, detective. I was doing rounds and saw movement in your bedroom. It's so late, I thought that maybe someone had broken in. Your window was unlocked." The cop said, giving a small, apologetic shrug. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"That was me getting up." Chloe said, frowning. "Or maybe Lucifer."

"Yeah, I noticed him in there." The officer nodded, his tone indicating the conclusion he'd jumped to.

"Oh, no, no. It's not like that." Chloe said, chuckling awkwardly. "He's just there. Nothing unprofessional going on."

"Hey, I'm not one to judge. I've been there." The officer smiled. "I'm Officer Sawyer, by the way. Really am sorry I frightened you."

"No, no, it's fine." Chloe said, waving her hand in dismissal. "Better to have overenthusiastic officers watching than lazy ones. You've got the overnight shift, yeah? Want some coffee? I can make some for you and your partner. I know how boring stakeouts can be."

"That's really kind of you, detective. How can I say no?" The officer smiled and Chloe turned to click on her kurig.

"I know it's a crap detail, but I promise it get's better. You have no idea how many of these I had to do when I was still walking the beat." Chloe said, her back turned to the other cop. "But if you stick to your guns and walk the line, you'll be a detective in no time."

"That's the hope." Sawyer said, walking over to lean on the kitchen island and watch Chloe work.

There was a long, somewhat awkward silence as Chloe began making the coffee. She grabbed a mug and placed it on the tray to let the coffee pour in and turned to smile at Sawyer.

"So, why'd you join?" Chloe asked, trying to make idle conversation. "My dad was a cop, so I've got blue blood. Was it like that for you?"

"Oh, no. No. There was…. this girl…" Sawyer said and he smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, I see." Chloe nodded and smiled brightly. "Academy love. Did it work out?"

"No, unfortunately." Sawyer sighed. "I don't think she ever noticed me."

"Aw, that's too bad. But don't let that be the end, you know?" Chloe said as she turned with the steaming mug in hand. "You'll make detective before you know it and then your girl will see how good of a cop you are."

Chloe handed the mug to the officer and smiled.

"I remember how hard it was. I took the exam twice before I became a detective. You've just got to prove your worth." Chloe said before glancing at the man's name placard on his shirt. "And then you'll be _Detective_ J. Sawyer."

That sparked something in Chloe's sleepy brain. Something about his name. She blinked and then looked up again.

"Wait. J. Sawyer. You're not…" Chloe froze. Her whole world stuttered to a halt and watched a slow, disturbingly cheery smile slowly trail over the officer's face. "Jack David Sawyer? J.D.?"

Now that she was looking, she could see it. He certainly wasn't the scrawny, geeky, music kid anymore. He had grown to over six feet and actually was very handsome.

"Hey, Chloe. Long time no see." Officer Sawyer, J.D., smiled. "I'm surprised you didn't recognise me earlier."

"You were at the crime scenes on detail." Chloe said, her brain finally shooting off into overdrive. Flashes of Officer Sawyer standing behind police tape in front of Victoria Kate's condo. Officer Sawyer giving her and Dan the information on Graham Kent. Officer Sawyer keeping Lisa McDonough from entering Kelly Curtis's home. The grainy LAPD footage of Officer Sawyer bringing in the plumerias for Chloe. "You were… you were there. For all of it."

"Well, I had to make sure things were going according to plan." Sawyer smiled. "But everything got a little out of hand, you know? It was supposed to be a great setup, then Graham had to go and be the stupid, whinging baby he always was and ran away. I had to improvise. And now that freak Morningstar is hovering around..."

Chloe's eyes immediately darted to the door of her bedroom and Sawyer laughed.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about your boy toy. He's not going to be a problem." Sawyer said and Chloe felt her stomach roll.

"What did you do?" She asked, already fearing the worst. Lucifer dead in the other room and Chloe left alone to fight a trained and armed officer in only her pyjamas. Lucifer _dead_. She was going to vomit.

"Oh, I didn't kill him. Not yet. Just a bit of chloroform." Sawyer said with a dark chuckle. "I've got plans for him. I'll take you away from here and we'll head back to his place. I'll hang him in his closet or something. I mean, I do have his handwriting down pat. So eloquent. You two will have gotten into a fight and he just couldn't live without your love. So tragic."

"Why are you doing this?" Chloe asked, unable to keep her voice from shaking. "Why?"

"Why? WHY!?" Sawyer screamed. "Because you _never_ noticed. I tried so hard. Did you like the flowers?"

"You're a murderer." Chloe said, her voice growing hard. "I won't let you get away with this. They may have been assholes, but they didn't deserve to die."

"After what I found out Espinoza did, I knew he had to go next, but Morningstar… oh he was a priority. He treats you like a plaything he can enjoy whenever he pleases before he runs off to play with more of his slut brigade." Sawyer seethed, clearly not listening to Chloe at all. "He should appreciate you for the goddess you are. You should be worshiped."

"If you hurt him, I will kill you." Chloe said and she meant it. Her heart was pounding. From behind Sawyer, she saw a shadow. Maybe it was the other officer on duty. She prayed it was.

"I defended you against those awful people in high school. I even defended you when I was assigned to the LAPD. No one appreciated you." Sawyer continued, completely unfazed by Chloe's threat. "They all judged you for Palmetto and because of that stupid movie."

"That film was a _masterpiece_." Came a voice cold as ice as two eyes flickered red in the darkness.

Sawyer only had enough time to turn before Lucifer was upon him, tackling the man to the floor with vicious precision.

"What the hell! You're not supposed to be awake!" Sawyer exclaimed while Lucifer made to punch him. He missed, clearly a bit out of it but capable enough to grapple with the man beneath him.

"Watch out for his gun, Lucifer!" Chloe shouted just as Sawyer went for his sidearm. Lucifer was fast enough to knock the gun away before Sawyer flipped them over and proceeded to land two solid punches to Lucifer's face. Chloe winced at the sound, knowing that something had gotten broken. She scrambled out of the kitchen in search of the weapon Lucifer had kicked away only to just miss Sawyer's body as it went flying by her.

Lucifer stood on shaky legs sporting a bloody nose and looking like the definition of wrath. He practically loomed as he pulled himself up to his full height, though there was a clear unsteadiness to him. It must have been the effects of the chloroform.

"You will not _touch her_." Lucifer said, his voice the embodiment of darkness itself. It was almost like there was an actual power behind it and Chloe shivered at the energy his words produced in the room.

"She belongs to me." Sawyer growled and Chloe scoffed.

"I don't belong to anyone." Chloe defended, still searching for the gun.

Sawyer got up to his feet and made a dive back towards the kitchen, Lucifer following quickly. The cop darted up from behind the island just in time to grab a chef's knife, the one that Lucifer had used just earlier in the evening to cook he and Chloe's delicious dinner, and hurl it in Lucifer's direction. It was a direct hit to Lucifer's shoulder, embedding into his flesh and causing Lucifer to howl loudly.

"You bloody prick!" Lucifer shouted and he launched himself over the island to crash Sawyer back down on the floor.

Sirens could be heard in the distance. Maybe one of Chloe's neighbours had called to report the disturbance. It didn't matter. Help was on the way.

"Keep him down, Lucifer!" Chloe shouted, finally able to seize Sawyer's gun from the floor and work her way around the island to point it directly at the head beneath Lucifer's bleeding body. "Freeze! Or I _will_ shoot you."

Sawyer looked up and saw the barrel of the gun pointed straight between his eyes. He quickly reached up and grabbed the handle of the knife that was lodged in Lucifer's shoulder and gave it a vicious twist. Lucifer's grip on the other man faltered as he whimpered in pain before grabbing on to both Sawyer's wrists and slamming them back down to the floor, effectively pinning the man beneath him. Chloe heard the crunch of bone but couldn't bring herself to care if Lucifer had broke the killer's wrists.

"She said _freeze_ , you vile mortal." Lucifer seethed through clenched teeth. He was clearly in pain, but adrenaline was keeping him strong and in focus.

The sirens grew closer and soon there was a pounding knock on the door.

"Decker! Lucifer! It's Pierce!" Marcus's voice rang through the wood and Chloe looked at Lucifer.

"Don't worry, detective. I've got this reprobate." Lucifer growled. "Go ahead and let in the calvary."

When Chloe opened the door, Marcus came in with his gun drawn followed by Dan and two other officers. She could see Ella standing in the background looking worried.

"Lucifer has him pinned." Chloe said, directing everyone behind the kitchen island to see that Lucifer had removed the knife from his shoulder and was now pressing the blade to Sawyer's throat.

"Stand down, Morningstar." Marcus demanded. "It's over."

"He tried to kill me. Intended to take the detective." Lucifer said in a dark voice, his eyes never leaving Sawyer.

"But now we are here. It's over. We're going to put him away for a long time." Marcus said, but Lucifer didn't move. Marcus was the only one positioned to watch as Lucifer's eyes slowly changed from warm brown to fiery red.

"He was going to take her against her will." Lucifer growled, pressing the knife covered in his own blood a little harder against Sawyer's throat.

"Oh god… what… what are you?" Sawyer shivered beneath Lucifer and Lucifer's growl turned into a sinful smile.

"Your reckoning." Lucifer said, his voice returning to it's dark and icy tone.

"Lucifer?" Chloe called out, shimmying around to the other side of the island to stand behind her partner and reach out to touch his shoulder. "It's over. You can let him go. We can arrest him now."

The fire in Lucifer's eyes vanished at Chloe's touched and Marcus's eyes widened as he watched the effect. Interesting.

Slowly, Lucifer pulled away and other uniformed officers stepped in to get Sawyer up and cuff him. Sawyer's eyes never left Lucifer and he whined in fear as Lucifer smiled at him again.

"What are you?" Sawyer whimpered and then howled when the police officers handcuffed him.

"I believe his wrists may be broken." Lucifer supplied, though he didn't sound like he cared.

"Well, isn't that too bad." Marcus said, matching Lucifer's tone. "Take him away."

"Lieutenant." Chloe said, now trying to understand what must have just happened. "What about Sawyer's partner?"

"Chloroformed." Came Ella's voice from the doorway as she inched around the officers leading a stumbling Sawyer away. "He'll be okay."

"Oh thank god." Chloe sighed in relief.

"Yeah, apparently he only had eyes on killing one cop tonight." Marcus said darkly.

"How did you all know?" Chloe asked, but a small mewl of pain from behind her reminded her that Lucifer was still injured. She turned to find that Dan had come up beside Lucifer and had pressed a hand towel against the wound to stanch the bleeding.

"Espinoza, get Morningstar to one of the ambulances outside." Marcus commanded and Dan gave a nod only to have Lucifer pull away in protest.

"Honestly, Pierce, it's a mere flesh wound." Lucifer said, but he stumbled a bit when Dan tried to move him.

"Right." Marcus chuckled. "At least let them stitch you up, alright. And get some oxygen in you. You're a mess."

"Fine." Lucifer sighed and allowed Dan to usher him out the door.

"How did you know we were in trouble?" Chloe asked again now that Lucifer was being taken care of.

"The note on your door mat." Ella supplied. "Same residue as before, but we also had the receipt from the flowers. The one–"

"Sawyer signed for." Chloe answered with a nod.

"Right. The handwriting was a complete match. No forgery. He wrote both notes in his own hand." Ella said. "I got the results about twenty minutes ago."

"When we radioed the car to check in on Sawyer, we got no response." Marcus said. "That's how we knew something was wrong. Once we got here and found his partner unconscious, we knew Sawyer was our killer."

Chloe nodded through the whole explanation, still feeling shaken.

"But why Sawyer?" Marcus asked, tilting his head. "What was his game?"

"He knew me from Westside. He was one of those kids in the background that no one really noticed." Chloe said. "I guess he had a crush on me and tried to get my attention. Even followed me into the academy."

"Yikes. Talk about creepy." Ella shivered.

"Yeah." Chloe sighed, still feeling slightly nauseous. "I suppose… this is a crime scene now?"

"Don't worry about it, Chlo." Ella said. "We'll move fast. Why don't you go check on Lucifer?"

"Actually, I'd rather have the medics check you out first, Decker." Marcus interjected.

"I'm fine." Chloe said and Marcus gave her a stern look. 

"That wasn't a request." Marcus said and Chloe sighed.

"Yeah, okay. Fine." She responded with a nod and let Ella walk her out to the second ambulance that had been called. While she was being looked at, she could see that Marcus had made his way over to where Lucifer was getting stitched in his shoulder, looking as irritated as ever. They were too far away for her to hear, but they were speaking intensely.

"So, care to explain why Sawyer is going on about the Devil in LA?" Marcus asked and Lucifer immediately looked around to make sure his wings weren't poking out. To his relief, there were no feathers, so he turned back to Marcus and shrugged.

"How should I know?" Lucifer said sullenly. "I've heard my temper can be practically demonic."

"He's talking about red eyes and hellfire." Marcus said, his smile knowing.

"That's… that's not possible." Lucifer said, shaking his head.

"It is. It was. I saw it myself. Maybe you haven't lost as much as you think you have." Marcus said before slapping Lucifer on his bad shoulder, making the Devil wince, before laughing and striding off.

* * *

 

Once the calamity had died down and the scene had been processed, including the confiscation of Chloe's knife and Sawyer's gun, Lucifer and Chloe were left to head back into her apartment to clean up the damage.

It really was a mess. Knick-knacks had been knocked off of shelves and tables had been overturned in the fight. There was blood on the floor and the mug of coffee had ended up shattered on the counter.

"Apologies, detective. It seems I made a right mess of things." Lucifer said with a frown, one hand cradling the sling that paramedics had put him in to prevent him from aggravating his now injured shoulder. 

"No need to apologise." Chloe said before turning to look up at Lucifer. "You saved my life."

"I'd be a terrible partner if I hadn't." Lucifer smiled, but Chloe's expression remained sad. Lucifer didn't know what to say to that, so he just continued. "Well, how about we just clean this up?"

"Tomorrow." Chloe said, shaking her head. "It can all wait until tomorrow. I'm exhausted. Let's just go to bed."

Lucifer tilted his head and his brows knit in confusion.

"But detective, the threat is over. I would have thought you'd be ready to send me on my way now that we have nothing to fear." Lucifer offered, the hand gripping his arm tightening a bit.

"You know what, yeah. I know, but someone just broke into my house and tried to kill my best friend and I really don't want to sleep alone, so I would feel better if you stayed with me tonight." Chloe blurted out, feeling her cheeks grow hot, but ignoring it. Lucifer admired the truth and that was what this was. The truth. Well, there was more to asking Lucifer to stay with her than her own fear, but she really wasn't prepared to talk about it just yet.

"Of course, detective. I'd be more than happy to stay." Lucifer said, gesturing to her bedroom door. "Though I need to wash up first and burn this shirt, if that's alright?"

Chloe let the humour in Lucifer's word break through and she chuckled softly.

"Yeah, of course. Go ahead." Chloe said as she made her way to her room while Lucifer split off to go to the bathroom. He wasn't gone long. She heard the shower click on and off and soon her door was opening to reveal Lucifer in his pyjama bottoms, sans shirt and sling.

"You're supposed to wear the sling." Chloe said from her perch on her bed, her eyes trailing up to the white bandaged square just above his left pectoral.

"Ah, I'll be fine." Lucifer said, tossing away the idea with a wave of his hand before stepping forward and following the short-lived routine of sliding into the bed to occupy one side. Only this time, Chloe didn't maintain the boundaries. A few moments later, she shifted over and rested her head on Lucifer's good shoulder.

"Sorry, I just…" Chloe began and then took a deep breath. "When Sawyer showed up and told me he'd taken care of you, I thought… I thought…"

"You though he'd killed me." Lucifer provided and Chloe immediately reached out to wrap an arm around Lucifer's middle and bury his face against his skin. Lucifer brought up a hand to snake around Chloe's back and placed his hand on her head to run his fingers through her loose hair. "But he didn't."

"I thought he did." Chloe whimpered and all the stress and shock finally overtook her as she felt her eyes well up. "I though he did and for one awful, awful moment, I thought you were gone. Forever. I couldn't… I couldn't breathe."

"Shh, detective. It's alright." Lucifer soothed, leaning his head just enough so that he could place a chaste kiss on the top Chloe's head. "It's over now. We are both safe and alive and the bad guy will be punished."

"I thought you were dead." Chloe said, the words coming out in a choked sob before she started to cry outright. It was silly and weak and stupid and everything she hated but Lucifer, wonderful Lucifer, didn't seem to mind. Instead, he shimmied his body down and reached over to cup Chloe's cheek to gain her attention.

"He made you cry." Lucifer said, a thumb gently caressing her cheek to catch one of the tears. "But that ends tonight. You're the only thing that's right about the broken world and I won't let this happen again."

"Lucifer?" Chloe asked, sniffling softly and looking into her partners eyes.

Lucifer let out a sigh and closed his eyes. It was obvious he was gathering up the courage to speak and, when he did, it nearly took Chloe's breath away.

"I have been alone for so long. I was like a frozen lake who didn't care about anything. But you came along and melted all that away." Lucifer said, his tone growing serious. "I know I've made terrible mistakes, but I thought I was doing the right thing. I realise now how wrong I was. I shouldn't have pushed you away. I shouldn't have hurt you so much."

"Lucifer, don't… I can't…" Chloe began and Lucifer cut her off.

"I know. I'm not asking anything of you. Just know that I'll always be here to protect you. Even if it kills me. I'd trade my life for yours in a heartbeat." Lucifer said, his thumb still gently stroking Chloe's cheek. "I'm so sorry for what I've done to ruin this, but please understand that I did it for you, as stupid as it was. I was wrong and I apologise."

"We could… we could start again…" Chloe found herself saying.

"We could?" Lucifer asked, a small smile revealing a flicker of hope on his face.

"Yeah. But no running away. No hiding. You have to be honest with me." Chloe said and Lucifer nodded immediately.

"I agree. And I promise I'll tell you everything. All of it. It's just… not tonight." Lucifer said, his eyes falling away sheepishly. "The world is unfair, so, for tonight, let's keep it locked outside, yeah?"

"Yeah." Chloe nodded before she leaned forward and pressed her mouth to Lucifer's. It was just as chaste as their first kiss on the beach and Lucifer let out a small, relieved sigh before returning the slow, unhurried kiss.

They stayed there for a few moments before Lucifer pulled away with a beaming smile.

"What?" Chloe asked, finding herself smiling as well.

"Well, I told you I would." Lucifer said and Chloe tilted her head.

"You would what?" Chloe smirked, not following.

Lucifer looked into Chloe's eyes and leaned close enough to kiss her again before stopping just before their lips touched. Their breath mixed and Chloe waited to see what he was going to do. She then heard the soft words escape his lips just before he closed the last few centimeters between them to kiss her properly.

"I worship you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *blows trumpets and throws confetti* IT'S DONE! HUZZAH! YAY ME! I FINISHED A MULTICHAPTER FIC! 
> 
> I really hope you all enjoyed the ride and, if you're interested in learning more about the inspiration for this fic, Heathers is on Netflix and you can watch Heathers the Musical in it's entirety on Youtube. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me! Love you all!

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm sure there are some of you out there that are laughing your asses off. This fic has SO MANY referenced to Heathers, both the 1989 film and the 2014 musical. I was just cast in the show and decided to bring my favourite detecting duo in on the fun. All seven chapters will be up within the next few days. I'm literally working on the last chapter right now. This was supposed to come out on valentine's day, but I got busy. I hope you enjoy what was supposed to be a one shot and turned into a full story. :3
> 
> As always, kudos and comments bring me life.
> 
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